Zeit von der Nacht
by Dancho
Summary: AU. Vampires and hunters are heading towards a war. Seto and Mokuba are caught in the cross-fire and so is everyone else involved. SJ YY BR HO MM RI. Rating for character death, drugs, language, violence, etc. Not as bad as it sounds. -Complete-
1. 01 S 1

Chapter One: American on the windowsill

Name: Kaiba Seto

Age: 70

Birth date: October 25, 1990

Current Residence: Japan (city withheld)

Origin: Tokyo, Japan

Living Family: Kaiba Mokuba (Brother); Jounouchi Katsuya (Master & Mate)

Parents: Same and Lain Chimata (Biological- dead); Gozaburo Kaiba (Adopted- dead)

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Height: 186 cm (Six ft, one in.)

Weight: 65 Kg (143 lbs.)

Identifying Marks: Three small scars on left side of the neck; White scar across stomach

Begin Entry

Well, here you go Mokuba.  I hope you're happy, because I haven't a clue why you want me to write this.  I had practically nothing to do with any of it; you were far more involved than I was.  But if you insist…

I suppose it would sound clichéd to say that it was a dark and stormy night.  Actually, it wasn't stormy at all and dark seems a little redundant as it _was_ night.  Isn't that the definition of night?  When the sun does not shine and it's dark?  Hold on a second and I'll look it up.  Here: night (nīt), n. [AS. _neaht_,_ niht_.] 1. The time from dusk to dawn, when no light of the sun is visible. And so on, and so forth.

But I digress.  From the beginning, again.

The day everything began, as I remember it, --God, what a pathetic beginning--wasn't special.  It wasn't my birthday.  It wasn't the anniversary of my biological parents passing.  It wasn't the day my adopted father kicked the bucket.  Nothing special.  It was just a normal Thursday evening.  Or maybe it was a Friday?  Jou thinks it was a Friday.  I'll go with that, since I can't remember anymore.  I suppose give anything fifty years and you'll forget details like that.

At any rate, I was typing on the computer, filling out forms and checking a few financial reports, while you were watching the news.  In theory, so was I, but I didn't really pay attention, unless you said something about one of the stories. 

You said something.

"Hey, Seto?"

"Hn?"

"What do _you_ think about the murders?"

"What murders?"

"Haven't you heard?  Within the past three weeks there have been twenty murders in the Tokyo area."

"So?  Perhaps it's gang violence or a minor war between drug lords.  It's not like our murder rate is zero."

"But all the victims were found with at least one set of puncture wounds and the bodies were drained of blood!  The police think it's some sort of serial murder or strange new cult!  But some people think that it's a string of vampire murders!  Vampires, Seto, vampires!"  You grinned, as you stood up on the sofa and began to bounce around.  Flapping your arms wildly, you pushed his top jaw out so your incisors rested in front of your bottom lip.  "I'm Dracula!"

"You're hyper.  Now, sit down before I throw out all the soda in the house.  I mean it, Mokuba.  Stop jumping on the sofa, or I'll disconnect your Playstation Three for the next week."  I frowned.

"You're no fun."  You huffed as you jumped one last time and flopped down onto the sofa.  "But really.  Isn't it exciting?  Vampires!"

"Mokuba, please act your age.  There's no such thing as vampires, and you know it."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"And, of course, you know everything about everything."  You laughed while rolling your eyes.

"Naturally."  I smirked.  We sat in silence for a few more minutes and the phone rang.  Walking over to the TV, you tensed and waited for the phone to ring.  It rang.  Running forward to gather speed, you vaulted over the back of the sofa and slid down the tiled hallway, grabbing the phone as you passed.  I made a note to myself to decrease your sugar intake and speak with your doctor about sedatives.

There was a muffled thump and then I could hear an equally muffled conversation between you and the person on the other end.  I decided I had worked enough for the night and shut down my laptop.  Getting up, I walked over to turn off the television and turned just as you re-entered the room.

"Seto?"  You asked as you walked into the room, rubbing your left knee.  "That was Yugi.  Can I go over to his house?  He invited me to spend the night."

"How do you plan on getting there?"

"Uh, walk?  It isn't even a mile to his place."  You shrugged.  "Well?  Can I?  Can I?  Can I?  Please?  Please, please, please?!"

"You're like an eager puppy, Mokuba."

"Please?"  You begged, hugging me around my waist.

"Oh all right.  Go get your stuff and I'll walk you."

I was a little worried about you, I'll admit.  I didn't think anything would happen on our little 'excursion' and I may not have thought that vampires existed, but it was late and dead bodies are dead bodies no matter how you look at it.

We made it to Yugi's house without much trouble. 

Well, it wasn't really a house, if you'll remember.  At the time, Yugi lived over a store in the downtown area.  Yugi owned and ran the store after his grandfather had willed it to him.  Beats me how your friend managed the shop and school (not that I really should be talking), but his grades weren't spectacular either way.  Ryou and Honda, two of yours and Yugi's friends were already there. 

I have to say that I should have sensed something was messing with those two already.  They moved with a fighter's grace.  They never stumbled or tripped.  They never knocked anything over and their reflexes were great.  Funny, I usually hate mysteries, but I had never investigated them.  I took it for granted that Honda was a fighter.  He always had a bruise or cut from a street fight and Ryou was always suffering from the wounds inflicted by bullies, but street fighting and bullies shouldn't have been problems for fighters with their… prowess.  Hn, how naive we all were.

So, there I was, standing in the game shop, reminding you to get more than two hours of sleep because we had a meeting with your English tutor, Ms. Smith, the next day.  Your friends looked on with knowing smiles, and there was a knock at the door.  Ryou hopped off the counter to get the door, but Yugi just called out for the person to come in.

At that point, I think all our lives officially began to suck.

The door opened and three (or maybe four?) men walked in.  They weren't old, but they weren't your age either.  I guess they were about my age, but they didn't 'feel' like it.  They exuded this air that people with bigger, better and faster cars radiate.  It was this sort of power that told you that getting in their way would be the biggest and last mistake you would make in your life.  The tallest one stepped forward and looked around the small shop.

"Come on, Keith."  One of the other men sighed, as he glanced back at the door.  He reached up and rubbed his right ear, pulling on the dangling earring.  "Let's just leave it.  Yami isn't going to be very happy with all this shit you're pulling."

"Hum, a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, ne?  A funny place to find two hunters, but I'm sure we can make due.  We could smell the two of you all the way down the street, so we decided to come check it out.  All those humans don't give us much of a fight.  Do you boys think you can do better?"  The man laughed, blatantly ignoring his friend who was looking more and more annoyed each second. 

"Keith."  The man growled but, after a moment, the annoyed man shrugged and leaned against the wall, evidently not willing to participate, but unwilling to leave.  I turned to watch the others in the room and pulled you a bit closer.  I shot a glance at Ryou and Honda who were both looking a bit nervous.

"Ryou, I didn't bring anything."  Honda whispered to the small albino boy.

"Neither did I."

"The clans won't be happy with us."

"On the bright side, we won't have to deal with them."  Ryou laughed faintly, as he took a defensive position and cautiously stepped towards the other group.

"Yeah, we'll both be dead."  Honda sighed as he moved to support Ryou.  "Yugi, call Otogi!  We're going to need some weapons and back up."

"Otogi?  Weapons?  But why?"  Yugi asked, looking confused.  "What's going on?"

"DO IT!"  Honda bellowed as he ran at the leader.  Ryou leapt over the leader's head and executed a series of quick blows that took down one of the other men, while Honda engaged the leader.  The leader suddenly threw Honda through the glass door and approached us.  He reached for you and I threw a punch at him, while twisting so that you were behind me.  Another man came to help his friend and Ryou started towards us, while kicking at the annoyed man.  Knocking Ryou's leg out of the way, the man grabbed Ryou's right arm and quickly twisted it.  I swear you could have heard Ryou's scream a block away.

"FUCKING VAMP!"  Ryou screamed as he clutched his right arm.

"Be glad I only broke you damn arm, hunter."  The man snorted.  "Keith, I'm leaving.  This carnage disgusts me.  You're on your own against Yami, too."

"Aw, shut your hole."  The leader snorted as he and his friend finally managed to pull you away from me.  My captor swept my legs out from under me as he held my hands behind my back and I found my face slammed into the floor.  My vision darkened as a form sat down on my back and I felt a hand ripping at my hair as my head was lifted up.  I could see the leader, Keith, clutching you to his chest.

"What… What are you?"  You asked as you struggled against Keith.

"A nightmare.  A child of the dark."  My captor laughed.

"A vampire.  And I can smell your blood, boy."  Keith grinned as he licked your neck.

"Let… LET HIM GO, YOU BASTARD!"  I cried as I struggled.

"Oh-ho!  It's a feisty one, Keith."  My captor giggled, before slamming my head into the ground again.  I could hear my brain shift as my head was brought up sharply to look at you and Keith.

"STOP!"  I could faintly hear you shout and I watched as you bent your head and roughly bit Keith on the arm.

"YOU FUCKING PUNK!"  Keith shouted as he grabbed you by the shirt and slammed your body into a wall twice.  You went limp, and Keith let you slid to the ground.  I whispered your name, but I knew you wouldn't respond when I saw the blood on your dark hair.

"Shit!"  My captor cried suddenly.  "There's another couple of those assholes coming.  Come on, Keith.  Let's go."

"Hn.  Fine.  You two are a pair of lucky buggers."  Keith grunted and he left with his friends.  Picking myself up, I crawled over to you and gently hit your cheeks, while checking your neck for a pulse.

"Mokuba?"  I whispered as Yugi cautiously came into the room and another boy helped Honda stagger into the shop.  "Come on, Mokuba.  Wake up."

"Umm… Se'?"

"Mokuba!  Hey!  Keep your eyes open."  I begged, but your eyes were already closing. 

"Is he alive?"  Yugi asked, and I shot him a glare.

"Don't just stand there, idiot!  Call a damn ambulance!  What the hell are you thinking?"  I hissed.

"Kaiba?" Ryou asked as he knelt next to me.  I turned to my gaze to him as Yugi ran off to the phone in his kitchen.  "What are you going to tell the doctors?"

"You'll be there, I'm sure you'll hear me."

"I'm not going to the hospital.  Neither is Honda."  Ryou sighed, brushing his white hair out of his face with his left hand.  "There would be certain questions we can't answer.  I'm asking you to tell the doctors that there was a street brawl and Mokuba was caught in it.  Don't tell the doctors about Keith and the other vampires, please?"

"Vampires?"

"That's what they were."  Ryou nodded, before looking up.  I could hear the sound of sirens approaching and Ryou stood up.  "I have to go.  Forgot about the attack."

I have to admit that the next hour was a complete blur.  Just a mess of lights, sounds, places, words and ideas.  I was told to sign papers and I ran down halls chasing after you as the hospital rushed to get you stabilized.  I was pushed in and out of rooms, given orders and forbidden to see you.  I saw the staff running, carrying tubes and wires.  Faces of doctors, other patients, nurses, volunteers and families ran past me in all different directions.  My only certain, steady, clear thought was that you had to pull through.

And then the doctor came to see me, as I sat outside shock trauma, waiting to be allowed in to see you.

"Kaiba Seto?"

"Yes?"  I asked, standing up.

"Come with me."  The doctor sighed and he led the way down a hall.  We finally reached a small room, just off the shock trauma wing and I looked in to see you lying on a bed.  You had two IVs and you were hooked up to a breathing apparatus.  "He need a few stitches to his head, but we managed to stop most of the external bleeding."

"When will he wake up?"  I asked, and I could feel the relief flooding me.  I had always thought it was a bad way to talk about it, but the feeling does just pour into you and cover you completely.

"He won't."

The feeling left just as soon as it had come.

"What?"

"There's massive internal bleeding and the hit caused severe brain damage.  Even if your brother were to wake up, he'd be nothing like he was before." 1

I didn't understand him.  The words were swirling around my head and I tried to grab them and understand them, but they always slipped through my fingers.

"I don't understand.  Talk in smaller words.  What's the bottom line?!"  I cried, wrenching my eyes away from your sleeping form.

"He's dying."

I think I screamed, but no one came running, so maybe I was only screaming in my head.

"You liar."

"I _don't_ lie, Mr. Kaiba."  The doctor frowned.

"You have to be lying.  He's going to wake up and then we're going home.  So take your death sentence and shove it!"  I snarled at him.  "Now leave me alone.  I want to be alone with my brother."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."  The doctor sighed before he left.  I pulled a chair over and sat down next to you, before I reached out and touched your hand.  It was cold.  Rubbing your fingers, I squeezed them and tried to get a bit of circulation in them.

"Fuck, Mokuba.  You shouldn't be here, do you hear me?"  I whispered, as I closed my eyes.  "You should be at home.  I mean, I'm pretty worthless, aren't I?  I should have protected you.  I was right there, damn it!  Right there!  And I did nothing.  I mean… SHIT!"

I could feel a few hot, burning tears well up against my eyes and I wiped them away quickly, angry with myself for shedding them.

"Damn it, Mokuba.  Wake up!  Wake up right now, do you hear me?!  I am your brother, and you'd better do as I say!"  I shouted at you.  "Didn't you always say I get what I want?  Well, I want you to wake up!  Didn't you always say you'd help me get what I want?  I need you to wake up, damn it!  Didn't we always say that we'd be there for each other?  Well… _I'm_ here.  Where the _fuck_ are you?  Huh?  Where are you?!  WHERE, YOU STUPID BASTARD?!"

I bit my lip, running out of angry words to yell at both of us.

"And… and if you dare use any of those curse words… I'll take away your PS3."  I smiled faintly.

Let me now take a moment to point out that if you should hear a knock at a second floor window… at least take a look.  I say this based solely on my own personal experience and the theory that if your visitor has the time and dedication to climb up there, you should at least give them a chance.

In any case, I heard a knock at the window and I looked up to see a tall blond boy standing with only his toes on the shallow windowsill.  His hair was long and rather unkempt so that it hung in his face, obscuring his brown eyes.  He wasn't wearing much to keep out the fall winds; just a thin green jacket, a white T-shirt and a pair of rather old jeans.  His shoes were also old and falling apart, but he didn't seem to notice.  Perhaps his socks were abnormally thick.  He wasn't anything out of the ordinary really.  Turning the manual lock, I slid the window open and the boy managed to turn and sit down so that he was sitting on the sill with his back was pressed against the window frame.

"Hey."  The boy greeted me in heavily accented Japanese.  I decided he was an American, or had American roots, but my English wasn't good enough for me to speak to him in that.

"Hello."  I nodded back.

"Kaiba Seto, right?"  The boy asked, before extending his hand cautiously so he wouldn't fall off the sill.  I took the offered hand and shook it.  " Jounouchi Katsuya, call me Jou for short.  Everyone else does."

"Do you… want something?"

"Heard about your brother.  Tough shit to happen to a kid."

"Huh?"

"He was attacked, right?  Oh hell, it'd better be you.  I mean, I followed you here and I heard the doctor talking…" Jou trailed off, thinking to himself.

"My brother was attacked."  I sighed, trying to stop the kid from hurting himself.  "That's not on the official report though.  How'd you know?"

"Well, of course it's not on the report.  Not with two hunters as witnesses.  They like to keep this all hush-hush and shit.  Must be driving them up the fucking wall that they can't keep the murders under wraps."  Jou laughed to himself.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Kid brother was attacked by a vampire right?"

"I… Who _are_ you?"

"I told you.  I'm Jounouchi Katsuya.  Oh, I'm a vampire, too.  My master was there and asked me to check on you lot."  Jou let out a breath and we watched as the white mist blew away in the wind.  "Look, I've got an offer for you.  I'm a vampire."

"You mentioned."

"I can save your brother."

"What?  How?"  I asked, suddenly desperate.  "Where?  How much?"

"It's free, but… I'll need to take him away for a bit."  Jou admitted.

"What are you going to do?"

"Change him.  Into a vampire."

"Hell no.  I won't turn my brother over to become a bastardized… FREAK… like you!  He'd never accept it!  He might as well be dead!"  I snarled, as I turned away from the window and looked at you, biting my lip.  And when I looked down at you, I couldn't help but notice how still you were, barely breathing really.

I looked at the floor, not wanting to se how pale your skin was.  I hated it, the way your skin looked so dead.  It sickened me.  You weren't moving at all, nothing like your normal self.  You were never still, even when you slept.  I remembered how, when we were at the orphanage, you'd always hog the blankets and the bed.  You were… are… so alive.  I fucking hated it.  I hated the entire situation.  I hated that I was helpless and I hated that you were leaving me.  I needed you, still need you, and I knew it.

"Well… If you're sure…."  Jou began as he slid up the glass, trying to stand.

"Jou… if you change him, will he be like he was… before the attack?"

"For the most part, yes.  The external and internal bleeding will heal itself and so will the brain damage.  It'll be like he was never attacked, only he'll be a vampire."

"How long will you need him for?"  I asked softly, my decision already made.

"I'll only need him for a week, maybe two."  Jou shrugged.

"It's a deal."  I sighed, as I beckoned him inside.

"Uh, I can't."  Jou sighed.  "Just hand him out to me."

I looked at him oddly, but I reminded myself that if I didn't listen to this stranger, you would die for certain. 

"Can I come?"  I asked, touching your hand softly.

"Sure, but I'm going to be in a rush.  Changing is one thing, but we need him as a witness.  Plus, he's still a kid.  We're going to need to… what's the word?  Ah, educate.  We need to educate him, which is what I need the week or two for.  Come if you can keep up with me."  Jou grinned.

Nodding to show I understood, I pulled a couple plugs, unhooked you and brushed your hair out of your face, before handing you over to Jou.

'For him.  For Mokuba.  For Mokuba.  I'm doing this for Mokuba.'  I repeated to myself silently, over and over again.

"Take care of him."  I told him, my voice promising painful death if he disobeyed.

"No prob, Kaiba."  Jou grinned as he pulled your unconscious form to his chest.  Then, leaping high into the air, Jou flipped over and plummeted to the ground.

"MOKUBA!"  I screamed, as I leaned out the window, but as I searched for you and the stranger, I couldn't see anything.  At that moment, I thought I had lost you forever.

AN: When Seto talks about the second floor, that's the third floor for all us Americans.  The general way of counting in Europe is ground floor, first floor, etc. instead of first/ground floor, second floor, etc.  I'm not so sure about Japan, but I'm assuming it's the same. 


	2. 02 B 1

AN: Bakura's got a filthy mouth. Don't say I didn't warn you. Heck, for future reference, all of the vampires are going to be extremely vulgar. Just in case you hadn't noticed already. 

Chapter Two: Coded Messages

Name: Bakura (First name forgotten)

Age: 918 (or so)

Birth date: 1142 (Specific date forgotten)

Current Residence: Withheld

Origin: Present-day Ireland

Existing Family: None

Parents: Forgotten (although, in theory, it must have been a man and a woman)

Hair: White

Eyes: Brown

Height: 178 cm (5 ft, 10 in.)

Weight: 57 Kg (125 lbs.)

Identifying Marks: Various scars; tattoo of skull (shoulder), Celtic design (right arm)

Begin Entry

Fuck you, Kaiba. And I mean that in the rudest possible way. You'd think it would be saying something that I haven't contacted any of you in fifty years! Not to mention that it was _you_ who found _me_… after five years of searching! Oh and let me also point out that, even now, fifty years after the war, you only have my e-mail address, you damn hacker.

Anyway, _I_ think it says something; it says 'back the hell off!' I really don't want to talk to you or any of you fucking assholes!

Haha! I can see you reading this and flinching at my profanity. I'll bet you're covering your brother's eyes! Well, too fucking bad! Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!

…

Okay, so I'm back. I had a shower and got dressed. And I made myself some coffee. I _guess_ that puts me in a better mood. Well, maybe not.

I've decided that, mostly due to a lack of other productive activities on my 'to do' list, I'll actually answer your damn message.

It's hard to think of when it all started. Upon reflection, I realize that things were probably going to hell before _I_ noticed anything. Things were probably going to hell the second Marik and Malik met. However, all I can relate is my… part… in this fucking soap opera, so for my 'purposes' I will begin with the moment I noticed that the proverbial shit was about to hit the proverbial fan.

Thinking back to when it 'started', I probably should have noticed things were going to hell _way _before I actually did. It's not that I _didn't_ notice months before the battle; I just should have noticed far earlier. Marik was my child, after all.

I should have noticed he was withdrawing from certain events. I should have noticed how he was never there when hunters attacked. And I definitely should have noticed how he would disappear for hours or days at a time and when I would see him again, he would never have a good excuse for his disappearance. However, I didn't notice; I didn't really bother to dig out the answers either. At least, not until I took an unexpected trip to the art museum.

There was a special exhibit on 'British Art through the Centuries' at a nearby art museum and I decided to burn up a little time one weekday afternoon by looking through the exhibit. It was interesting, I suppose. A few pieces were before my time--so I looked at them for an hour or so--but then it just became things that I had already seen before, so I began to lose interest. I roamed through the displays and I let my mind wander.

That is, until I saw a special piece that I recognized. I had known the artist when I was younger, around five or six hundred years old and he was half my age. He was very smart and talented and his voice had been wonderful to listen to. You could listen to him speak for hours on end and never grow bored, no matter what he was saying. He had this way of mesmerizing you; he sort of sang his ideas and they wandered into your mind until they were a part of you. He was a wonderful lawyer. At least, he could have been if he had enjoyed it. It was almost a pity that his heart was so delicate. All he wanted to do was glorify beauty and happiness and love everyday, but his parents didn't approve.

They had wanted their son to be a lawyer and make money and be successful. His heart was so soft that he could not bring himself to hurt their memory, so he became a lawyer and then a judge. I remember when I learned of his death. A Hunter shot him in the heart.

I laughed when I heard of his death; I found it ironic that a man devoted to beauty would be killed because someone perceived him to be ugly.

I looked at the sculpture and wondered if I dared to simply steal it. I could feel my hand itch to simply smash the glass surrounding the sculpture and run away with the piece of stone. The itch grew and I ran my hand across the glass. I was about to give into my temptation--I had even pulled my fist back to break the glass--when I heard the sound of hurrying footsteps. Taking my hand off the display case, I hurried out of the hall and I ran into a long hallway.

I was almost down the hallway, when I saw a familiar flash of blond hair. I did a double take and noticed that it _was_ Marik. You could have knocked me over with a whisper! Marik? In an art museum? (Hell, I couldn't see anyone I knew at the time in an art museum, but that's beside the point.)

I decided, very unwisely, that Marik must have been up to _something_ and I also decided, again unwisely, that I should follow him. He was my child; therefore, he was my responsibility and I take my responsibilities seriously. This explains why I've only ever had two children in my rather extensive lifetime.

I followed Marik at a distance, and watched as he entered a closet. I opened my hearing to pick up a softest sounds, and discovered that Marik was not alone in the closet. The closest door muffled the conversation on the other side of the door, but I could make out most of it.

"Marik?"

"It's me, love."

"Thank God! What happened? I was so worried when you were late."

"I was held up by my child. Jou was forced to change a boy the other night."

"Why?"

"The boy was hurt by my other child, Keith."

"I heard about that. The clan leaders aren't taking it too lightly. Most of the hunters are really upset over the whole incident."

'A hunter?! WHAT THE FUCK, MARIK?!' I wondered as I realized the occupation of Marik's guest.

"Yami is keeping the whole shitty thing under wraps, but Keith isn't going to be around for much longer. Yami's really cracking down because of the murders. Fortunately, Yami thinks that Keith might have been behind the murders, so this whole incident might actually solve all our fucking problems."

"Even if Yami tells the clans that, they're still out for blood. Everyone had been really tense this past month, and now with this attack, they're all about to explode. The two hunters that were attacked last night were unarmed, but they were still confronted!" There was a pause before Marik's 'visitor' continued cautiously. "You… weren't there… _were_ you, Marik?"

"Yeah, I was there."

"Damn it, Marik! Why can't you stay out of hunter business? What if I have to hurt you one day? I… I'm scared."

"You could come with me, Malik."

"You know I can't. Come on, its only six weeks till the wedding."

"You still want to be damn human for your sister's bonding?"

"It's important! I have to be there and I won't shame her on that day. But after that… we can leave together."

"I know; I can wait for you, Malik. Love you."

"Love you too." Marik's 'friend', Malik, whispered. I could hear the sounds of kissing and then heavy panting as the two broke apart.

"I have to go. With that attack, the leaders are really edgy. Be careful?"

"All right. I'm free next Thursday."

"I can't. Can you make Friday?"

"Sure, I'll be at the place."

"Till then."

I bit my lip and waited out of sight, but close enough for Marik to smell me. I watched from my hiding place as a faintly shorter, and younger, version of Marik walked by. He wore his blond hair long, but it hung around his face, unlike Marik's hair, which stuck up at odd angles. The boy also wore gold armbands around his upper arms and wrists. He wore a purple shirt with gold chains and a pair of beige pants. Shrugging off the feeling that I had just seen Marik's twin walk by, I waited until I heard Marik's approaching footsteps before I stepped out in front of Marik and turned to my face so I could look him in the eye.

"Bakura! Wha-what are you doing here?" Marik asked, looking around nervously. I turned my entire body so I was facing him straight on and shrugged.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied. I could tell the lack of emotion in my voice scared Marik, but I didn't really care.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means 'What the hell are you doing fucking a hunter?'"

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"It's not their damn business."

"Thanks." Marik sighed, relaxing slightly.

"Don't bother. Marik, do you want to be killed? Because if you do, you only had to ask! You and this hunter being together is like a rabbit falling in love with a wolf!"

"I'm not a wolf and he's no rabbit!" Marik shot back, tensing again.

"I meant it the other way around."

"I can take care of myself. But even if I couldn't, he isn't going to hurt me!"

"Really? Are you sure? He was raised to hate our kind from the day he could think past 'feed me mommy.' He's been _reared_ to kill vampires! Every thought that goes in to his damn mind is anti-vampire!"

"Why the hell do you care anyway?"

"It may surprise you but, as your master, I am responsible for you. Your problems are my problems. It's my fucking duty! My obligation is to keep you safe!"

"Well, no one asked you the change me! Besides, I _can_ take care of myself, you bastard!"

"Look you don't _need_ a silver knife to cause pain! I hate to tell you this, but I've found that humans have this unhealthy habit of dying after a certain length of time. What are you going to do when _he_ dies?"

"I don't know; I don't care! I'm just living for today; tomorrow can go fuck itself."

"Tomorrow's going to fuck _you_ if you're not careful!"

"Just because someone you cared about died on you, doesn't mean…" Marik began.

I punched him.

"You shut up right now!" I ordered him, as I stood over him. He pushed himself in a sitting position, but didn't bother to stand as he nursed his bloody nose. "Humans die, and if you're thinking of changing him, think again! Do you really think your boy toy is going to leave everything he's got… for _you_? He's going to keep putting it off and putting it off. And then, one day, he's not going to wake up. And you're going to hurt. So you think really hard about what you're doing, you understand, Marik? Use your damn brains for once! You balls and dick deserve a break."

I turned around and left, quickly striding down the hallway, leaving Marik's stunned form behind me. I left the museum and let out a sigh. I knew that my tirade wasn't going to stop Marik from seeing the hunter; if anything they'd now be joined at the hip. However, I had to warn him. I looked back up at the museum and wondered if Marik knew that I cared.

I know that I am not, nor ever was, an open person. I never did have a very good handle on my emotions. Really, that only emotion I could ever really handle was anger and happiness. Pretty much all my other emotions are shot to hell. Reality sucks.

I wandered down the street, licking Marik's blood off my knuckles, and turned left onto a random side street. I kept twisting and turning through the city, making sure to not follow any sort of pattern as I attempted to get myself completely lost in the large city. I finally succeeded and was forced to deal with the unfortunate side effect of getting myself lost. I had no idea in hell of where I was.

Inhaling deeply, I sniffed twice and cursed my own stupidity as the scent of several hunters floated towards me. Jumping up, I clambered onto a nearby fire escape and hurried up the apartment building. I had reached the seventh floor when I saw three people come and stand under the fire escape. I smelt the air and stiffened when I knew that they were hunters. Knowing I was unequipped to deal with the heavily armed hunters, the scent of silver was heavy about them, I slowly lowered myself into a crouch and tried to blend in with the shadows.

The brunette was surrounded by the faint scent of blood as well as silver and I could see a bandage that was wrapped around his head. The second tallest had his arm wrapped around the brunette's waist and was kissing the brunette's neck, much to the embarrassment of the short albino. The albino had his right arm in a cast that went up to the middle of his upper arm. I focused my vision on the blushing albino and was slightly startled at the similarity between our appearances. Of course, I figured it was probably because of the distance and the fact that we had the same colored hair. It's by far our most striking feature.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" The only uninjured boy asked the albino.

"Yes. I can handle myself. Besides, I'm not dumb enough to go around unarmed."

"Really? And what was last night, then?"

"A mistake. Come on, your dad already ripped us a new one. Do you have to, too, love?" The brunette asked, kissing his boyfriend.

"You know you're still in trouble, right, Honda?"

"Humph. Well, it was worth a shot." Honda grunted.

"Uh, I'd better get home." The albino blushed.

"We can walk you home, if you want, Ryou." Honda offered.

"No. I'll be fine. You two go off."

"You sure?" Honda's boyfriend asked.

"I'll be fine, Otogi. Just promise me you'll get a room." Ryou laughed, before he ran off, leaving his friends to call mock threats after him, before they hurried off.

I stood up from my crouch and smiled.

"Ryou. What a pretty name for a pretty boy." I nodded, letting Ryou's name roll off my tongue. Hey, I never said I wasn't a hypocrite.

I hate to tell you this… a certain length of time. - Not my line. This is a take off of a line from the Gundam Wing fic, Dark Date by The DeathBunnie. (I just know it's a fairly common trait among humans, y'know? They tend to die after a given length of time.)


	3. 03 S 2

AN: Sorry about the wait; I've been on vacation. WAHOO, EUROPE! Oh, I suddenly realized that the title probably doesn't make much sense to anyone. It's German for 'Time of the Night'. Yeah... no real explination for that.

Chapter 3: It's been Two Weeks since You Looked At Me.

Name: Kaiba Seto

Begin Entry

About two weeks later, I was having trouble sleeping. And let me point out that when I have trouble sleeping, I don't just lay around until morning.

I haven't actually found a good way to burn off my insomnia, so every time I get a bout of it, I try something new. Well, that's actually a lie. I get the bouts whenever something is burning in my mind but I don't want to think about it. So I can't sleep, and in order to do something with the time, but not actually deal with my problem, I try all sorts of thing.

During the time in question, I had experimented with making cookies (a disaster that fifty years later has yet to be repeated), worked five hours overtime, done a computer search on all articles about Kaiba Corp that had been published that week, read said articles, run laps around our house and, all in all, managed to ignore what was preying on my mind.

My real problem was a certain American blond named Jounouchi Katsuya. I kept seeing his laughing face just before he had jumped off the ledge with you in his arms. Of course, no picture is complete without a sound clip, so chasing after the picture in my head, I could hear the blond American saying:

__

'I'll only need him for a week, maybe two.'

It was then, as I attempted to create a new program for my computer, that I realized my IQ must have been dropping.

I angrily shut down my computer and walked through my house, stripping off my clothes as I went towards my shower. Grabbing a towel and my bathrobe as I passed my room, I walked into my bathroom and turned on the shower. I waited for the hot water to come on full blast before I climbed in. I almost screamed like a five year old girl as I felt the water burn at my skin, but I clamped my lips shut and accepted the pain. After a few minutes, I let a little cold water mix with the burning water so I could think.

Frankly, I was furious at myself. Not only had I given you over to a complete stranger, I had sentenced you to death, whether Jou was telling the truth or not. I couldn't believe I had expected Jou to be real. The boy had obviously been a drug addict, or worse. Not to mention, Jou had jumped off the second floor. But, I don't suppose I should have been too surprised about that one. I mean, honestly? How did I expect Jou to get off that windowsill with you in his arms?

I quickly lathered my body in soap and rinsed it clean before I cleaned my hair with shampoo and washed that out too. Turning off the water, I got out of the shower, toweled off and pulled my bathrobe and pajama pants on.

I wandered out of the bathroom and down the hall to a large picture window. I love that window. It's a stained-glass window that split in the center, so the window could be opened in good weather. The window depicted the sun rising over a large group of rose bushes that sprouted beautiful red roses. It's a bit traditional of me, perhaps, but I like the way the sun shines through the glass in the morning.

However, that day I didn't feel like watching the blood red splotches on my carpet grow in size, so I lifted the catch and allowed the windows to swing inwards. Looking out at the sunrise, I frowned as two figures approached my front walk.

Noticing that the gate was locked, the two figures looked at each other. The taller figure made a few wild hand gestures before backing up a few steps. Running forward, the taller figure cleared the fence by grabbing the top bar and swinging his legs over my fence with a sort of practiced ease. The figure hit the ground and turned to unlock the gate and allow the shorter one in before re-locking it. Without waiting, the shorter boy turned and continued down my path, the first figure following soon after.

Frowning in annoyance, I tied my bathrobe tighter and pulled on a pair of slippers, before I went to my front door and went out onto my front porch, where I waited for my guests to come to me.

"Are you sure about this? We could always wait and catch a bit of breakfast, ya know." I heard a strikingly familiar voice ask. Gritting my teeth, I stood my ground and waited for Jou to come nearer.

"Master! You said yourself that no place is open at this time!" the other person replied. There was a certain familiarness to the vocie, but I couldn't place it. It was like I was hearing the voice of an old friend who had aged a few years.

"I know, but I'm sure we can find something."

"Relax, I'm sure he's up." The shorter boy, the one with the familiar voice, snorted.

"If you're referring to me, I am." I growled, causing Jou and his shorter companion to look in my direction

"Now, answer my questions. You, who are you? Jou, what do you want? And when are the pair of you leaving?" I asked, tapping my foot.

"SETO!" The shorter boy laughed as he ran towards me. Taking an uncertain step forward, I looked down at the blur that was headed towards me.

"Mokuba?" I whispered and you attached yourself around my midsection, jolting me. "MOKUBA! Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God! I missed you so much! I swear I didn't recognize you! What happened to your voice?"

"I dunno!" You laughed. "I just woke up and my voice was a little deeper. Jou said it's a side effect of the change, and it's normal."

"You two aren't going to cry, are you?" The other boy asked and I looked up to see Jou, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

"And you! You've got a lot of nerve, Jounouchi Katsuya! Where have you been? What have you been doing with my brother? Did you hurt him?" I demanded.

"I changed him, that's all. He's educated though, so he'll be able to take care of his new body. You can ask him if you've got any questions. Um, I happen to be his master, as my type call it, so I'm going to be around a bit, I suppose; There's still some stuff about his new society that he needs to learn. I gave him a cell phone and my number is on there, so… feel free to call me, if you've got any questions."

"Master? Society? What?" I asked, but Jou had already left, running down the path. "Jou! Damn it! Come back here, you jackass!"

"Seto? Can we just go in? I'm hungry." You asked, tugging on my sleeve to catch my attention.

"Hungry?" I asked, feeling a bit lost. I mean, I hadn't the slightest clue what you _feed_ a vampire! I wasn't sure if you expected me to roll up my sleeve and fill up a glass for you, or pull out a fresh corpse for you to nibble on.

"Can I have some waffles?" You asked, hopefully. I bit my lip and nodded, feeling guilty for even worrying about your sustenance. If you had needed blood, I would have given it to you. It was my fault, after all; it was my damn selfishness that got you into this mess.

I turned and walked into the house and got halfway to the kitchen, before I realized that you weren't following anymore. I backtracked and found you were still standing on the front porch looking inside.

"Mokuba? Why aren't you coming? Didn't you say you were hungry?"

"You… uh… you need to invite me inside. It's a rule. A vampire can't enter any building, that's an area with a man-made covering or a roof, without an invitation." You replied, looking at your feet.

"You have to tell me these things." I sighed, trying not to feel as embarrassed as you looked. "Mokuba, won't you come inside?"

"Thank you." You smiled faintly, as you steeped inside and I closed the door behind you.

"I'm, uh, sure there are many rules to being a vampire." I mentioned trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen between us.

"Not really. I didn't mean a rule either. It's just a fact; a vampire simply can't enter a building without being invited by someone, anyone. That's the first time, at least. After that they can enter and leave with no trouble."

"Oh. Uh, are there any other… facts… I should know about?"

"I still need to eat and drink, that hasn't changed. I still have basic needs that need to be taken care of. Of course, if I don't eat, I just get very hungry and get cramps until I do eat, but that's beside the point."

"I see. Anything else I should know?"

"There are a lot of things…" You began. I looked over at you and gasped when I saw the mirror we were passing. I could see myself looking into the glass, but you were nowhere to be seen in the reflection. "That's one of them. No more reflections."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" I asked.

"No, not terribly. Just, could we take my mirror out of my room?"

"All right. As you were saying?"

"We need to get rid of all the silver in our house. I can't touch it without it burning me. It also stops our rapid healing process and reverts it back to that of a… normal humans. It's one of the few things that can kill us, over exposure to silver. Uh, sorry." You whispered.

"It's okay." I sighed, already making a mental list of all the silver in our house that would have to be thrown out. I pushed open the kitchen door and we entered the kitchen.

"What's that smell?" You asked, covering your nose.

"I tried making cookies this morning. It's not that strong; I can barely smell anything." I shrugged as I opened the freezer, took out a box of frozen waffles and put two in the toaster. I closed the door and set it for medium brown.

"It's overpowering!" You complained.

"Are you all right?"

"It's just so strong! I didn't know my new senses were so strong. I know that the sun burns my eyes, but…" You sighed as you sat down on the counter. The sun had just started to stream through the window, so you pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

"Will you be okay?" I asked, putting my hand on your shoulder.

"I'm… look, I can tell I make you uncomfortable. Do you want me to leave?" You asked, looking me in the eye.

"No! Don't ever say that!"

"Then would you stop acting like I'm a fucking stranger? I'm me; Kaiba Mokuba, born on July seventh, 1996. You said so yourself, nothing can ever change that. I am _still_ your brother, damn it!"

There was a silence as you glared at me and I took a small step back in suprise. Your fist was firmly planted on the counter, where you had slammed it for emphasis, but you barely noticed. I looked into your eyes and I frowned when I saw a tear roll down your cheek.

The toaster popped to show it was done.

"Do you hate me?" I asked, your words still ringing in my ears.

"Hate you?"

"I do."

"What?" You whispered, your eyebrows disappearing behind your sunglasses as you looked at me questioningly. I turned to look out the window and pulled the blind down so you wouldn't be looking into the sun.

"How much did Jou tell you?"

"About what? He told me lots about vampires."

"You were dying, Mokuba. When that bastard threw you against the wall you… were badly injured. You had slipped into a coma and were going to die. I… was so scared, Mokuba. I didn't know what to do.

"Without you I was going to be alone… and I need you, Mokuba. I need you far more than you need me. Everything around me changes daily. Stock prices, employees, other companies, everything. Any minute, I can lose anything. As we speak, my company is increasing or decreasing in value.

"You're my anchor, Mokuba. You're what I can rely on, because you're always there. I know sometimes I'm not as nice as I ought to be to you, and I know that sometimes we fight and I know sometimes I don't appreciate you like I should, but I need you. I need you more than anything."

"So, what happened?"

"Jou showed up and he offered me a way to save you." I said and took a deep breath before continuing. I was speaking rapidly, hoping that if I spoke fast enough I could explain myself before you got too angry. "And I'm a bastard, Mokuba. A selfish bastard!"

"But I'm alive."

"You're not alive. You're a vampire. I took away your humanity. I took it away from you because I was selfish!" I shouted as I grabbed you by the shoulders and shook you.

"Seto! Seto, shut _up_!" You snapped, smacking me across the face so hard I could hear my jaw pop.

I've long debated if you really meant to hit me, and I've never actually come up with an answer. Part of me wants to think that you were just too inexperienced with your strength to realize how hard you were going to smack me, but the other half of me knows I was getting slightly hysterical.

(As a side note, because my mind wanders, do you remember the only other time that I was that upset? It was the day that I realized what a bastard our adopted father was. I was just standing in my room when it occurred to me that if I had sold our souls to the devil, we would have gotten a better deal. I spent the next half-hour screaming and ripping my room apart. Do you remember that? You finally came home to see me screaming, while lying on the floor surrounded by books that I had ripped apart with my own hands. I told you that if I ever became hysterical again, you were to hit me until I shut the hell up and calmed down.)

Anyway, I was so surprised that you actually had hit me, I couldn't speak for a minute. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it gave you a chance to talk.

"Seto, I'm okay with being a vampire. Okay, so I was kind of weirded out and I didn't exactly believe I was a vampire at first, but seeing is believing. Let's just say that after Jou cut off his hand and it healed back like normal, I'm very accepting.

"You always told me that there are certain facts that should just be accepted because you could never do anything about them. This is one of them. I'm going to be a vampire for the rest of my unnatural life. I'm always going to look like this and I'm always going to have a blood addiction, and I'll never be able to touch silver again. I'm going to have better senses from now on, I'm never going to see my reflection again and I'm going to have to avoid certain people, because they're hunters. It sucks, but it happened. It's not your fault; I don't blame you."

"You… should eat your breakfast." I finally whispered, rubbing the jaw lightly, as I turned away from you and took the waffles out of the toaster. I put them in front of you and turned to leave the room. I didn't mean to be rude, but things were happening very fast, and I needed a quite place to sit and think. You seemed to sense this, and you let me go with only one more question.

"Hey, Seto?"

"Yeah?" I asked, not turning to look at you.

"Do I still have to go to school?"


	4. 04 B 2

Chapter 4: Capturing an Angel

Name: Bakura

Begin Entry 

It was almost a month, but probably only three weeks, after my argument with Marik before something of relative interest occurred. I had just returned from my daily watch for Ryou.

Yes, it was slightly pathetic, but, as I had nothing else to do, waiting outside the hunters' training center seemed like a decent way to get my jollies. Ryou's previously broken arm had begun to mend, but Ryou was still hurt and his arm was a liability. I had learned within a few days that, after Ryou got out of work, he would take a bus to the training hall and work out for an hour or so. I suppose he was trying to compensate for his damaged arm, because he worked hard.

He was wonderfully lithe and agile and I loved to watch his muscles move under his skin the way a cat's would. I would wait for Ryou to strip off his shirt before I would decide that I had watched enough. I think he knew I was watching him, or at least sensed my presence. A few times I caught him looking in my direction, but he couldn't see me with his human eyes. I made sure of that.

Anyway, after three weeks, Yami paid me a visit.

It should be noted that even before the battle, I was never a fan of vampiric society. To be frank, I avoided it like the fucking plague. Hehe, I remember that; God, those were the days.

Right, so Yami came by. I was in the middle of a shower when he knocked on my door. I considered just shouting for Yami to come in, but that was dangerous, as I had no idea who it was, and I had made it a point never to invite anyone into my house, just because I had a habit of pissing off too many people.

When I finally got my ass out of the shower and to the front door, Yami was looking a bit pissed off, but I couldn't have cared less. I told him to wait a minute while I got on some clothes and finally I joined him on my front walk. He was looking out at the street, but didn't bother to turn around when I approached. Standing next to him, I sighed and waited for him to talk.

"Bakura," Yami nodded, as I locked my door and sent a death glare in the direction of one of the neighbor's kids. I scared the piss out of most of them, literally. God, it was great.

Sighing, I pulled my sunglasses out of my pocket and slipped them on.

"Yami," I nodded in return and frowned as Yami took a cigarette out and sorted through his pocket, trying to find a lighter. "You know that's a bad habit, right?"

"What's it gonna do? Give me cancer?" Yami smirked, pushing his sunglasses down his nose, so I could see his eyes for the second before he pushed the glasses back up again.

"What do you want?"

"Who says I want anything?" Yami asked, trying to look offended. I glared at him and Yami shrugged. "Talked to Marik lately?"

"Define: 'lately.'"

"This month."

"Sure; what's your point?"

"I've been hearing reports that Marik's acting a little oddly recently."

"Is that a joke? Marik's always acted a bit oddly. Hell, he's odd if he's normal!"

"Odder than usual."

"Why do you want to know? Jou hasn't been around much, either, but you're not riding my ass about him."

"First of all, Jou isn't your child. Second of all, I know that Jou is at _his_ child's home, educating his child and his child's brother. Besides, Marik's not exactly a weakling, is he? The reports have been getting worse since I had Marik's child executed. It's always wise, when you're a leader, to keep good tabs on your underlings, especially when they might have a grudge like that."

"So you want me to tell you what he's up to so you can stay on the top of the food chain?"

"If you would. If figure, it'd be best if you did it, since you're his master."

"Go to hell. I don't want to get involved." I snorted as I turned to go back into my house. Yami slowly put his cigarette to his lips and took a long drag before speaking again.

"I order you as your leader to tell me what Marik is doing."

"Don't pull rank on me, you bastard!" I hissed, turning around and glaring at his back.

"I'm the damn leader!" Yami snapped back, as he turned to face me as well. I could see that he wasn't pleased with my disobedience, but I wasn't going bend over and kiss his ass. "I'm warning you, Bakura; I'm stronger than you are, so don't mess with me."

"Not stronger, Arthur! You're just interested. I could beat you any day of the year!"

"What did you call me?"

"I called your sorry ass Arthur!" I snarled, curling my lips back to show my dangerous teeth. "Now, you listen to me, _Arthur_. I'm far stronger that you, you get it? Not only am I older than you are, but I was scared to death when I was changed, do you hear me? You might have been scared, but your fear was only half what mine was! I'm stronger, and always will be stronger than you, so don't you fucking dare piss me off!"

"If you call me…"

"What? Your name?"

"It's not my name! You know I left it when my uncle died! I'm no longer Arthur!" Yami snapped, his fangs extending slightly, and we stood inches from each other, our glares filled with anger. Finally Yami let out a annoyed 'tsk'ing sound, and we relaxed slightly , taking a defensive step backwards. "But I need some answers, so I'm willing to bargain."

"What've you got that I want?"

"What do you want that I have?"

"Nothing."

"There has to be something," Yami shrugged, before smirking. "Or someone."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I glared, viciously baring my fangs. I think it surprised Yami that he had struck a nerve with his joking comment, but by then he knew something was up so I couldn't pretend like there _wasn't_ someone.

"Who is it? I promise you can have them," Yami nodded, grinding his forgotten cigarette under his shoe.

"The gods promised Paris the same thing," I smirked. "And look what happened."

"Who. Is. It? Damn it, I want to get on with this shit!" Yami frowned, his teeth grinding together in aggravation.

"He's a hunter. You can't miss him; he looks just like me, only shorter and weaker."

"What's his name, and how do you want his head severed?"

"He goes by Ryou and I want him alive."

"Alive?"

"And unharmed. Bring him to me, and I'll tell you what's bothering Marik."

…

Sorry about the pause, the girl scouts were coming by, and I had to take a moment to buy some of their cookies again. Shut up, you asshole; I happen to like cookies…stupid Ryou.

So, I sat down on my porch and waited a good hour for Yami to come back. By then it was pitch black and I was ready to tell Yami to go fuck himself.

Well, that's a lie. For starters, just typing that gives me bad images (I don't want to think about Yami getting some from anyone, least of all himself) so I wouldn't have phrased it precisely like that. Another reason being that I still wanted my end of the bargain, and you never, ever cheat a vampire. It's distinctly bad for one's health; please note this.

So, maybe just before nine, Yami came around the corner of my house, carrying two limp bodies, one over each shoulder. Yes, two. I only asked for one.

"Here you go," Yami sighed as he let me take Ryou's limp body. I held him bridal style, careful not to shift his hurt arm too much. "So, what's going on with Marik?"

"Yami, who's the other guy?"

"Funny story, that. So I finally track down your little hunter and I find his at this small game shop. So I get myself invited in--believe me, _that_ wasn't easy--and I find your boy talking with this guy. To make a long story short, I picked a fight with your boy Ryou and got found out. So little, noble Ryou tries to protect this kid, apparently goes by the name Yugi, long enough for Yugi to run to get some help."

"So you kidnapped them both?"

"I prefer the term 'cut my losses'. Hn, it wasn't to hard, since Ryou's arm was broken anyway," Yami smirked, as he shifted Yugi's form slightly. "So, spill."

"You don't have to worry about an uprising, Yami. Marik's sneaking off to see a lover, that's all."

"Who is it?"

"No one you'd know."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Hn. Well, as long as he keeps his ass in line."

"He won't get out of line; he can't risk it," I smirked as I turned to enter my house. "Don't be too hard on that kid, Yami."

"You just watch your hunter; you'll have more than enough trouble with him."

And Yami was right. Damn it, was he ever right.

I finally managed to unlock my front door, nudge it open and get inside without jostling Ryou too much. 'Too much' being the operative words in that sentence.

Kicking my door closed, I carried Ryou up to the guestroom next to my own bedroom and carefully placed him on the bed. I quickly went into my own room and grabbed a pair of gloves so I could pat Ryou down for any weapons. Yes, I wanted to speak with him; no, I didn't want a silver bullet between my eyes.

I found a fully loaded silver automatic tucked into the waistband of Ryou's pants and there were a few silver blades hidden on his person. Grumbling, I rolled them up in a bed sheet and dumped them in the toilet. Yes, the toilet; it's a wonderful hiding place. Everyone has a natural aversion to sticking their hand in there, and it's wet, so Ryou's gun would quickly become useless.

When I finally came back into the guestroom, I found that Ryou had already woken up and was looking around. He had gotten off the bed and was inspecting the window, which had been painted shut. I coughed slightly and waited for Ryou to look up.

"Holy… who are you?" Ryou asked when he turned around to see me. I could see his hands reach for various places on his body, obviously searching for a weapon of some sort.

"My name's Bakura. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ryou," I replied with a traditional Japanese bow. "You're in my house. Sit down. You head and arm must hurt a lot."

I motioned for Ryou to sit on the bed and I turned to pull a chair over to the bed.

"Why am I here?" Ryou asked as he continued to stand.

"I said sit down. Now sit your ass down," I growled dangerously. I watched as Ryou slowly walked over to the bed and sat down, his eyes never leaving mine. "Good. Now, you're here because I wanted to meet you."

"What? Why?"

"Can you blame me? You look like me. It's funny," I smirked as I stood and quickly reached out to tugged lightly on a lock of Ryou's hair. His left hand came up to grab my wrist, so I left my hand on his hair. I looked down at him and he glared up at me, still holding my wrist. "I keep wondering what it would have been like if I had stayed a mortal."

"You're a… vampire?" Ryou gasped as he quickly released my wrist, and scooted to the far side of the bed.

"Good job." I grinned as Ryou wrenched himself free of my gaze. I could see Ryou's eyes quickly dart around the room as if trying to find a weapon of some sort. "I won't hurt you. Check yourself, if you want. No one fed off you; you're still pure, little hunter."

"What do you want with me?" Ryou asked as his hand quickly checked his neck and wrists for bite marks.

"I told you. You intrigue me," I smirked as I moved closer to Ryou. Ryou 'eep'ed and fell off the bed onto the floor. He struggled to his feet and moved so that he could keep himself out of reaching distance.

"You fucking idiot! Get over here!" I growled in annoyance as I quickly reached over to grab him. He tried to slip out of the way, but I managed to snag his wrist. Spinning him closer, I grabbed him around the waist and we fell onto the bed.

"There. Now, is that so fucking bad?" I whispered into his ear, trying to control my anger. I watched as he shook his head slightly. I smirked, know that he was still scared out of his mind. I decided that if I gave him another shock, he might have a heart attack, so I changed the topic quickly. "Tell me what it's like. Tell me what I could have been."

"You never could have been me, vampire," Ryou spat, as he tried to pull away from me. I held on tighter, and eventually he gave up. However, I did notice that he lifted his shoulders to protect his neck.

"Bakura, please. 'Vampire' sounds so formal," I replied as I smirked at his pathetic attempts to protect himself.

"Are you crazy?" He asked as he twisted around slightly, so he could look at my face.

"Perhaps. Nine hundred years does fuck with your brains a little," I shrugged, flashing my fangs in a mock-laugh.

"Nine hundred… Oh my God. You're _that_ Bakura?"

"Wasn't aware there was more than one."

"I'm so dead." Ryou whispered as he slumped against me. The fear and anger that had been radiating from him had been quickly replaced with hopelessness and despair.

"I won't hurt you, Ryou," I whispered to him. "Just do as I say, and we can both be very happy. Talk with me."

"What do you want me to say? What do you want me to tell you?" Ryou asked, his voice shaking a little. He let out a small, slightly hysterical laugh. "Clan secrets? Where our leader is located? Oh, how about where we all live and how to infiltrate? Why not? Who knows, I might even answer you. I'm dead if I don't and there's no mercy for traitors. I can't fucking win; I'm going to die!"

"Relax, you idiot." I frowned, as I pushed him off my lap and stood up. "Who wants to know that? If I'd wanted to know that I definitely wouldn't have kidnapped you."

"You don't want to ask about that? Why not?" Ryou asked. He had calmed down slightly, but his breathing and pulse were still slightly erratic.

"Who cares? I don't bother your kind and your kind don't bother me. Besides, I could find that out by myself anyway."

"Then what do you want to know?" Ryou asked in confusion.

"Your parents," I began, trying desperately to calm him down. "Tell me about them."

"My parents? You could ask me anything in the world and you ask about them?" Ryou asked, looking at me in disbelief.

"I don't remember mine. I always kind of wondered." I admitted, blushing lightly. I looked over at the wall so he couldn't see, but I kept my ears open so I could hear the slightest movement. I was pretty sure there was nothing in the room that could be used as a weapon, but better safe than dead.

"Well, I don't remember my mom and my dad's never around, so I guess we're in the same boat," Ryou whispered.

"And your friends?"

"I'm mostly a loner," Ryou began, blushing faintly, as my breath tickled the hairs on his neck, "but I still get together with Malik often. We're close, but we've drifted apart recently. He seems distant lately."

Ryou seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment, and I smirked. _I_ knew why Malik had become distant. I thought back to Marik, and I fisted my hands in anger, dragging Ryou back to reality.

"Otogi and Honda are my two hunter friends. They're dating, and I think they're really in love."

"Aren't you friends with anyone outside of your damn clan?" I snapped in annoyance. I may have kidnapped a hunter, but I truly didn't want to hear about them all the time.

"Well, there was Mokuba… but he's dead now. And then there's… OH SHIT! Yugi!" Ryou cried as he leapt off the bed. I whirled to face him and was surprised at the offensive position he had taken. "What have you done with Yugi, you bastard!"

"Yugi's with Yami."

"Is he hurt? If he's hurt, I'll…" he began, but I cut him off.

"You stupid friend is alive. At least, he was the last time I saw him." I sighed, not wanting to listen to his rant.

"If he's hurt, I'm holding you responsible."

"Really?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Interesting. You certainly are defensive of this boy. What's in it for you? Are you lovers? You must be. You're not family, and no one gets this defensive over a fuck buddy." I asked, my voice like steel. This seemed to surprise Ryou and he took a step backwards in surprise.

"L-Lovers?" Ryou asked in surprise. He took another step backwards and sat on the bed, looking at the floor. "No. Yugi and I are just friends. It's just that… I was trying really hard to protect him. But I guess it's like when Honda and I tried to protect Seto and Mokuba that one time… but Mokuba's dead. And it just seems that… if I can't protect people, what good am I? That's what hunters are supposed to do, protect people!"

"Mokuba?" I asked, the name seeming familiar. I hadn't really listened to what Ryou had said after that; I had only been watching the defiant glint in his eyes. "Is that when your arm was broken? In that fight?"

"Yes. A vampire did it. So what?"

"Who did it? What was his name?" I asked, stepping towards him.

"I… I don't know. No one ever called him by name." Ryou replied, scooting backwards.

"What did he look like?"

"Well, he-he had dirty blond hair and his bangs were spiked funnily. And he had earrings!" Ryou frowned, looking as if he was desperately trying to remember.

"Did he wear a purple sleeveless shirt? Were his earrings gold and the dangling type?"

"Yes. Wait, how did you know?"

"Marik," I hissed angrily.

"You know him?"

"He's my… child," I admitted. "Hn, when he shows his face around again, I'll give him a piece of my fucking mind. That bastard, I'll bet he was imagining me when he broke your arm. Stupid dick!"

"Bakura? Are you angry?" Ryou asked, scooting back another inch.

"Not with you. Now, go to sleep," I whispered as I quickly reached up and pinched a nerve in Ryou's neck, which caused him to slump forward, already asleep.

AN: This AN isn't important to the story, but it is an interesting side note. I'm creating a mildly historical past for Yami.

In this story, Yami is the nephew of King John of England. The historical account of Prince Arthur:Arthur, duke of Brittany 1196-1203? **(BORN: 1187 to Geoffrey, fourth son of Henry II)- **After the death of Richard I of England, Arthur's claim to the English crown was passed over in favor of his Uncle John. Arthur allied himself with Philip II of France, who invested Arthur with Richard's fiefs in France. Fighting ensued, and Arthur was captured (1202) by John, who is suspected of murdering him (1203?).

But in my story, Yami's uncle sent an assassin to Yami's cell and the assassin, a vampire, changed Yami into a vampire. In my story-verse, I am also claiming that Yami had a hand in his Uncle John's somewhat suspicious death. GO ME AND ENGLISH HISTORY! 


	5. 05 Y 1

Chapter Five: Why Vampires Love Black

Name: Mutou Yugi

Age: 66

Birth date: June 04, 1994

Current Residence: Tokyo, Japan

Origin: Osaka, Japan

Existing Family: None

Parents: Raised by Grandfather, Mutou Suguroko

Hair: Tri-colored (Violet, Black and Yellow)

Eyes: Violet

Height: 153 cm (Five feet)

Weight: 42 Kg (93 lbs.)

Identifying Marks: Small scar on left side of the neck, scar across back

Begin Entry 

Hello, Kaiba. It's been such a long time since I've heard from you. In fact, it's been almost twenty, maybe twenty-five years, now that I think about it. I suppose time passes faster when you have so much of it. How are Jounouchi and Mokuba? I hope they're all right, though I have no idea why they wouldn't be. Oh, before I forget, tell Mokuba to write me or call me as soon as he gets a chance. I know you're both busy with your company and all, but I'd love to speak with him again; we used to be such close friends.

In response to your e-mail, I suppose I wouldn't mind talking about it. I don't know what I can really tell you though. Nothing really happened during the time segment you mentioned. Oh… shit; I wish Yami was still around. He'd be a much better source for you. I suppose you've contacted Bakura already, hm? Honestly, I'm sure he's the only one who was really there for the whole thing. It's such a pity about him, really. But this isn't about my ideas on Bakura, is it?

Before I begin, I feel I ought to warn you. I hate to disappoint you and all, but I wasn't really very important at all. If you want my true opinion, everything was being shot to pieces long before I even learned that vampires were real. It sucks, but it's true.

Uh, right. When I first meet Yami.

Well, I was closing up the shop one night. Yes, one night. I can't really remember when any more. Could have been a weekend night, but I don't really remember the shop being that busy that day. Well, to make a long story short, Ryou came over. Just to chat, you understand. Ryou had been coming over more and more lately. I think he was still on a guilt trip about Mokuba's… 'death.'

Frankly we were all a bit shaken when we came to visit Mokuba in the hospital and found that he was dead.

(As a side note, how much _did_ you pay them to issue a death certificate with no body? I'm sure it must have been quite a sum. You clever bastard.)

So, Ryou was sitting on the counter talking to me about this and that while I reorganized the shop. I was in the back room, putting away a delivery that I had gotten that day before when we heard a knock at the door. Ryou offered to tell the person to leave, but I decided it might be someone important, so I told him not to chase the person off.

The door creaked open and a man called into the shop. I couldn't see him from where I was standing but Ryou, who was still sitting on the counter, seemed to be handling the customer fairly well.

"Uh, are you still open?" The man asked, sounding as if he was torn between leaving and coming in.

"I don't know. Hold on a second. Yugi?! Are you still open?"

I looked down at my watch and decided that it couldn't hurt. A customer was a customer, after all.

"Yeah!" I called back, as I finished putting away the boxes and walked into the store. "You can come on in, sir."

"Thank you," The man smiled as he walked into the game store and closed the door behind himself. Ryou slipped off the counter and took a step towards the man, but neither of them seemed terribly hostile. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be open, though?"

"Not really. I can take one more customer," I smiled. I was a little shaken that the customer looked quite a bit like me, but after a closer look I found that his eyes were different, more slanted and smaller. His hair was slightly different too and he was taller. But there was a resemblance, I had to admit. "What can I help you with?"

"Actually, I'm afraid I didn't come here to buy anything." The man smirked, before looking over at Ryou. "Your name's Ryou, right?"

"Who's asking?"

"Typical of your kind. You never trust anyone," The man snickered, before looking around the shop. "So, hunter, tell me; what kind of weapons are you carrying today? Knives? Or will I have to dodge a couple of silver bullets for my prize? Don't deny it. I can smell the silver. It's heavy."

"Yugi," I heard Ryou hiss as he and the man cautiously circled each other, until Ryou was standing between the man and myself. I saw Ryou's left hand inch towards his hips and the other man tensed. "Yugi, when I move, call Otogi and Honda. Get help and then get the hell out of here. Do you understand? I mean it."

"He does seem to mean it, doesn't he?" the man winked at me.

"Ryou…? What's going on?" I asked, glance at him and then back at the man.

"Don't wait. Just go, all right?"

"I don't understand."

"GO!" Ryou told me, shouted, as he grabbed a switchblade from his sleeve and flung it at the other man. Running towards the cordless phone in the back room, I wrenched the phone off the charger, dropped the receiver and tried to blot out the sounds of a scuffle from the front shop. I could hear a crash and then there was the sound of a few shelves being knocked over. Fumbling with the buttons, I finally dialed Otogi's number and sunk into a corner where I could watch the door and be prepared for the man when he came for me.

I hate to admit it, but it never even occurred to me that Ryou might win. Ryou was injured and he wouldn't have told me to run if he had thought he would be okay. Actually, that's what I decided later. At the time, I just knew that the man was far stronger than Ryou.

I waited, clutching the phone close to my ear and holding my breath as Otogi's phone rang.

Ring… Five. Ring… Six. Ring… Seven. Ring…

"Hello, you've reached the Otogi residence," The answering machine picked up, but I just tuned it out. Dropping the phone into my lap in a moment of stunned shock.

"What? No back up? How sad," The man's voice whispered in my ear and my eyes shot open. I felt violent shivers crawl up and down my spine as the rest of my body froze in panic. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I tried to breath, but all I got was a shallow gasp of air. I tried again, but I got even less oxygen then before. My hands were shaking, and I'm sure my pulse was racing, but I didn't bother to check at the time.

I felt a pair of strong arms gently encircle my waist and his hands gently pried the phone from my hands. They quickly turned off the phone, ending the rambling of the pre-recorded voice of Otogi's father. I felt them crawl up my arms and towards my neck. I tried to breath, but my throat had seized up in panic. "Sleep, pet."

And, at the risk of sounding clichéd, I knew no more.

I finally woke up much later. I say much later, but really I have no idea how long I was out. It was still dark when I woke up, so it couldn't have been more than a couple of hours.

I felt a moist towel folded across my forehead, and I slowly opened my eyes. I was lying, naked, on a bed. It was actually a very nice bed. Not too fancy, but not poor. The sheets were made of cotton that had been dyed black and the pillows were made of the same material. There was a black comforter that had been folded down at my waist, but it was just enough to keep me warm. There was a bit of a draft blowing through the room and I wasn't wearing anything to protect myself from the cold.

The room was dark and I wouldn't have been able to see a thing if there hadn't been a window to the left of the bed, which allowed moon light to shine across half the room. The moonlight showed the bed, two identical doors and a nightstand with nothing on it.

The walls were a clean white and along the top of the wall there was a border, which I couldn't make out at the time. I watched the curtains flap in the wind for a moment before I returned my attention to the room. I squinted and tried to look into the shadowed area of the room but all I could make out was a stool and the outline of the masculine figure that was sitting on it.

"Ryou?" I guessed, as I tried to raise my upper body off the bed, by propping myself up on my elbows. I felt the sheets slip down my chest and I quickly pulled them up again, half out of habit, half out of need for warmth. "Otogi?"

"Wrong and wrong," The figure sighed as he stood up from the stool and I saw that it couldn't be Ryou or Otogi at all. It was the man.

"It's you. You're the man. From the store."

"Ah! Right! I was beginning to think you were going to have to phone a friend," The man chuckled, but I didn't get it. "No? Never mind. Perhaps 'Who wants to be a Millionaire?' was before your time. Then again, maybe it wasn't. Do they even have that show here?"

"Who… who are you?"

"Oh! How rude of me. Please don't hold this against me; I'm usually so much more polite. My name's Yami," Yami grinned as he stepped into the moonlight. I could see he light glint off his white teeth and wondered why I hadn't noticed his fangs earlier. "And you, of course, are Yugi. Motou Yugi, right?"

"Yes. How did you know?" I asked as I finally managed to sit up.

"Contacts. You know," Yami continued as he sat down at the edge of my bed and patted my foot, "It's almost a pity that your friend chose tonight to come visit you. I say almost because… well, I'm not too disappointed."

I tried to back away but Yami's grip slid up and tightened on my ankle. I grimaced in pain and struggled slightly as he pulled me an inch closer. I winced at the slight rub as my skin was pulled against the cotton.

"Don't run away, my slave," Yami smirked, as he crawled closer. He straddled my hips and pressed one hand on either side of my head. I looked up at him and discovered that I disliked, immensely, the look in his eyes. It was the look you saw in the eyes of a man who was dreaming of what he could do if he won the lottery.

Frankly, I was scared out of my mind. It was the paralyzing sort of fear that makes your heart race and your brain freeze. It wasn't that I thought that the man would do me any particular harm, he hadn't yet, and he didn't seem like the type of person who would mess around, so I figured that if he had wanted to rape me or kill me, he would have done it already. I was more afraid that I was going to enjoy whatever he was planning. I was also a little nervous about _what_ he was planning. Prior to my meeting with Yami, I had no real interaction with people with fangs, so I wasn't particularly informed as to what might happen.

Anyway, I think I whimpered as Yami kissed across my shoulder and up the left side of my neck, because Yami felt the need to whisper reassurances.

"Don't cry; don't be upset," Yami soothed, but I couldn't control my shaking hands or erratic breathing. "You're my slave. I caught you, pet. Come on, it'll only hurt for a moment."

I squeezed my eyes shut and suddenly felt a sharp pain as if two needles were cutting into my neck. My eyes sprung open and I arched off the bed. Yami slipped one of his arms around my waist to support me, but didn't move, as if he was giving me a chance to adjust to the feel of two fangs in my neck. After a moment, Yami pulled his fangs out of my neck and I felt a trickle of blood sliding down my neck. The pain and the feel of thick liquid on my neck caused me to let out a little sob.

"Now, now; it's okay, pet. There's no trouble," Yami whispered in my ear, before he licked away at the trail of blood. "I won't punish you, slave. This is why vampires love black; it hides the stains."

And with that, Yami attached his lips over my cut and began to suck on the wound, pulling out my blood.

End Reply 


	6. 06 S 3

AN: WARNING! Character death! Major angst warning and major sap warning. Prepare to be smothered in both. I hope I don't cry. 

Chapter 6: Tears of Blood

Name: Kaiba Seto

Begin Entry 

I found this security footage at a 7-11 store that was on the corner where the beginning took place. I did steal the tape, but I did not edit the footage in any way. This is the original account.

**__**

CC-TV camera angle 4

Date: 10/21/10

Begin Footage

A man with blond hair just past his shoulders was loitering around the corner just across from the 7-11. Periodically he tugged on his sleeveless purple hoodie and once he fidgeted with his cargo pants. The boy wore two sets of gold manacles and a pair of gold, dangling earrings that hung parallel with his hair and mingled with it. The boy ducked out of sight whenever a person walked past and only re-emerged when the pedestrian had safely passed on. This continued for about ten minutes before another blond passed by and stood in the area the other blond had vacated.

The second blond wore a pair of designer sunglasses as well as a sleeveless purple hoodie and beige cargo pants that closely resembled the first blond's clothes, but the second blond's clothes were far tighter and more constricting than the first blond's were. The seconds blond's hair stuck up into the air at odd angles, which gave the viewer a decent look at his earrings, which were identical to the first blond's.

After a moment the second blond came out of his hiding spot and spun the second blond around so they were facing each other.

"Marik!" The first blond shouted, as he hugged the second blond in delight. "Thank God. You're all right."

"Malik, what's wrong?" Marik asked, once he finally pried Malik off and checked him over for injuries. "Are you all right? You called me here, so suddenly I was afraid you were hurt."

"No. No, I'm fine, but what about you? Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You didn't hear? A hunter and a normal were kidnapped by a vampire two days ago."

"What? How do you know?"

"There were no witnesses, but no normal could kidnap a hunter. You know that. There were also signs of a major scuffle, so it's not like they just ran off together."

"Did you know them?"

"Yes. I knew Ryou very well. He was… my best friend in elementary school. I didn't know the normal nearly as well, but I do know that his name was Yugi."

"I see," Marik frowned, dropping his arms from Malik's shoulders and taking a step back. "So, what's got you so worried about me?"

"The clan leaders and high ranked hunters are in a frenzy. Besides, Ryou was friends with the son of my clan's leader. Otogi and his boyfriend are really worried, so they're raising a fuss."

"You know the son of your clan's leader?"

"We were in school together as well. I know him fairly well. But Otogi and Honda are using their rank to support anti-vampire feelings. The clans have gone berserk and there have been one or two instances already of unprovoked attacks on vampires. They, the clan leaders, think there's a mole… in the hunters."

"Do they suspect you?"

"No, not yet, but it won't be too long before they think of me and my frequent disappearances. They're going to come after me soon."

"Are you sure? What if I just lay low for a little bit? Maybe things will die down. Do you…" Marik began, before Malik threw his arms around Marik's waist, effectively silencing the other boy.

"Take me with you," Malik pleaded into Marik's chest. "Change me."

"What? Now?" Marik hissed nervously.

"Now. Right here!" Malik insisted as he tilted his head to the side and pulled Marik's face closer.

"But… Malik! I can't! It's not safe; you know that. You'll be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fucking fire, as you mortals say. Besides, what about your sister? Her wedding is soon, isn't it?"

"Forget her. She loves him and he loves her. If he leaves because of me, he was an asshole anyway. I'm sick of living for her. I want to live for me. Come on, Marik. Please? All I have to do is disappear."

"I… No."

"What? Why? A week ago I wouldn't have had to ask twice."

"But… It's more dangerous now. You'll be like me and now you'll be in more danger than before! Your family, your friends, your people, will be after you! Now isn't the time…" Marik trailed off, before looking off somewhere into the distance. He sniffed twice, before looking down at Malik, who was patiently waiting for Marik's verdict. "It's a group of hunters. They're closing in. Fast."

"You'd better run," Malik whispered, releasing Marik. "Go on."

"What about you? They're after you, aren't they?"

"I'll be fine. They'll kill you on sight. They'll put me on trial, at least, if they're even after me."

"But…"

"Rescue me later! Tonight!" Malik insisted before he gave Marik a strong shove and took a step away.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you," Marik replied, as he took two steps forward and grabbed Malik's arm tightly.

"Malik! We've been looking for you!" A voice shouted as a middle-aged man came down the street towards the pair. His attention quickly shifted from Malik to Marik, his eyes narrowing even more. "You, boy! Who are you?"

"Never you mind, hunter!" Marik gritted, baring his fangs, which glinted when the sunlight hit them.

"VAMPIRE!" The man shouted as he backed up a step. "There's a vampire here! Hurry!"

As the man shouted, three other hunters came running, from various directions, all drawing their weapons. His eyes widening, Marik clutched Malik's arm tighter.

"None of you move. I'm taking your little hunter as a hostage. I mean it! If one of you hunters so much as breathe I'll bite him!" Marik hissed, as he spun Malik around and wrapped his arm around Malik's waist. Malik's arms secure, Marik tugged Malik towards him and pulled his chest against Malik's back. Marik took a step back and tugged Malik along with him. Tilting his head, Marik exposed his fangs and let them ghost over Malik's neck but he made sure his eyes never left the trio of hunters who were watching.

"Hold on, little hunter," Marik whispered softly into Malik's ear. The other hunters tensed at his words and their hands tensing around their weapons. "I'm going up."

"Ready," Malik whispered back, dropping his head so he wouldn't have to look his fellow hunters in the eye. Tensing, Marik bent his legs and gave a powerful kick, launching into the air. Aiming their weapons, the four hunters on the ground quickly opened fire at the pair.

A bullet slashed into Marik's thigh, splattering blood on the building behind him and knocking him backwards. Giving a strangled cry, Marik lost his hold on Malik and the hunter plummeted to the ground like a stone. Second's later, gravity regained control of Marik's form and he fell to the ground roughly a foot from Malik.

"Marik?" Malik whispered once he had regained his breath. Sitting up, he looked over at his lover, who was withering on the ground, clutching his upper leg desperately.

"Malik, get away! HURRY!" One the women hunters shouted, but Malik was already crawling towards the fallen vampire.

"Shit, Malik," Marik hissed, as he looked up at his lover. His eyes were wide and his breathing was a little shaky. "It really hurts. The silver, it's burning me."

"Shhh. Shhh," Malik soothed. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to help you. Just hold on."

"Malik! This is your last warning," The first hunter shouted.

"Stop! He's not armed and he's hurt!" Malik hissed as he turned so he was facing the hunters on his knees. "Put down your guns! Put them down! He's not a danger to anyone!"

"Fire at will!" The first hunter called and the hunters quickly discharged their weapons. Marik's body jerked as three new silver bullets hit him in the stomach, chest and arm. Screaming at the hunters to stop, Malik tried to stand, but a bullet found his heart and Malik's body jerked violently. Malik's back stiffened as two more bullets hit his upper chest and blood spurted from his mouth. Blood fell from his mouth and dribbled down his chin and onto his clothes and the street.

The hunters stopped firing and silence reigned as Malik's limped body finally crumpled and hit the ground. There was a silence, and the heavy breathing of the four hunters echoed down the deserted street.

With a grimace, Marik rolled onto his side to look over at the body of his lover and took a deep breath. Lifting his body slightly, Marik cautiously crawled over to Malik's body and rolled the boy onto his back.

"Malik? Love, you need to stop this and wake up. Come on and open your eyes for me. Please? Please? I know you don't like to get up, but we need to go. Come on, for me?" Marik pleaded, as a droplet of blood rolled down his face and hit Malik's check. Wiping the blood from Malik face, Marik laughed a little and lowered his upper body so that he was lying on top of Malik's chest. "Malik, I think I'm crying blood for you. I'm crying, can you fucking believe it? Bakura would be disgusted.

"God, look at us. I'm bleeding like a mortal and I feel so much pain, inside and out. And you… well, you… you're dead. To think I used to worry about outliving you. And, yes, I know you're dead. Don't lie to me; I can tell you're gone."

Reaching up, Marik wiped a bit of blood off Malik's chin and licked the liquid off his finger.

"Your blood's the sweetest I've ever tasted, Malik, just like I knew it would be. Even if you are… gone. Shit, love; I miss you already," Marik sighed as he dropped his head and let it hit the street, his entire body acting as a blanket for Malik. "I'm a little bit tired, Malik love. But don't worry; I'll be there when we wake up."

Seeing that Marik's eyes were closed, one of the hunters cocked their gun and moved forward but the woman hunter reached out and stopped the hunter from going.

"Leave them," She whispered. "He won't last anyway."

And the four hunters left the street, forgetting the lovers that lay together.

**__**

End Footage

On another note, yet still relating to the incident, I was recently given the official hunter record's concerning the death of Ishtar Malik; my source wishes to remain anonymous, yet I do wish to thank them. There were no official public records because every aspect of Malik's autopsy and burial were handled solely by those within the hunter's ranks. Another reason is that, upon his death, all governmental files relating to Malik were wiped from the public records. (I have been informed that this is common procedure for every human, hunter or not, who dies of vampire causes.) In short, the official documentation ceased to exist and, for the purposes of history, Ishtar Malik had never been born.

The hunter's documentation of Malik's birth, life and death, however, are very thorough and complete. In fact, with the exception of the letterhead and one or two omitted questions, there is no difference between the obliterated documentation of the government and the still tangible papers of the hunter's files.

The death certificate for Ishtar Malik, a man who was not born, did not live and never died is as follows:

****

Full Name of Deceased: Ishtar Malik  
**Registration Number:** 21  
**Registration District:** 324763  
**Certificate Number:** 7354  
**Residence of Deceased:** Tokyo, Japan

****

Sex: Male  
**Race:** Egyptian-Japanese

****

Date of Birth: December 23, 1990  
**Place of Birth:** Cairo, Egypt  
**Date of Death:** October 21, 2010  
**Place of Death:** Tokyo, Japan  
**Age:** 19  
**Marital Status:** Single  
**Spouse:** N/A  
**Age of Spouse, if living:** N/A

****

Occupation: Full-time Hunter  
**Father's Full Name: **Ishtar Gamal  
**Father's Birthplace:** Cairo, Egypt  
**Mother's Full Maiden Name:** Kuroda Hoshi  
**Mother's Birthplace:** Tokyo, Japan ****

Cause of Death: Vampire Attack

****

Due to: Trauma to heart

****

Other Conditions: None

****

Operation?: No

****

Autopsy?: Yes

****

If death was due to external causes, fill in the following:

Accident, Suicide, or Homicide: Homicide

****

Date of Occurrence: October 21, 2010

****

Where did the injury occur?: Heart

****

Did the injury occur in or about home, on farm, in industrial place, in public place?: Public place

****

While at work: Not on assignment

****

Means of Injury: Injury during fighting

Informant: Tokyo City Police Department  
**Burial, Removal, or Cremation:** Burial  
**Date of Burial:** October 24, 2010  
**Date Filed:** October 22, 2010  
**Registrar:** Ishtar Isis

****

Relationship to the deceased: Sister

****

Comments or Additional Information: Ishtar was killed by his injuries instantly. The vampire responsible has since been eliminated.


	7. 07 B 3

AN: A great big 'THANK YOU!' to everyone who's reviewed so far and a great big 'SORRY!' for not thanking you all sooner! But now I've finally gotten my act together and I'll answer a few questions/comments.

alostblackcat : Actually, the idea for vampire's inability to enter a dwelling without being invited first came from Dracula. At least, I think that's how it worked.

LadySaturnGirl: Thanks for your numerous reviews, and thanks for the comment about Death Certificates. I did some research, but I wasn't sure if I had it right. Besides, I had to edit a few things from the original I stole the format from. By the way, Yugi isn't a vampire… yet. I hope that will becomes a bit more clear later on.

Shinigami: Wow! Never actually been threatened with a blow torch. Sorry you were so upset. I didn't like writing the chapter, but I had to because it's important for the plot. If you're sticking around, I've got a side chapter about Malik.

And of course, thanks to MeeLee who is/was BETA reading for me. Boy did she whip me into shape. Still got the scars. Wink Anyway, go read her original fiction on the sister site to FFN. It's really good!

Chapter 7: Blood in the Air

Name: Bakura

Begin Entry 

After Ryou came to my house, we didn't do very much. We mostly talked and Ryou got over his initial 'jitters,' if you can call it that. He was still a little antsy, but once he understood that he couldn't escape no matter what and he couldn't kill me, he stopped trying so hard. He still wouldn't let me touch him without a struggle and he was a little guarded, but for the most part those few days were calm—at least, until Marik and his hunter were executed. Of course, that _was _when everything got pretty damn hectic, so I guess those two days were just the calm before the storm.

Anyway, I knew something was wrong when I felt sick, and I don't mean a little dizzy. I was shaking so bad that I couldn't stand without some sort of support and my head was spinning at the same time; a headache was beginning to form.

I was in the kitchen with Ryou when it happened. I was actually pretty close to the event so I barely had any warning before it struck and when it did, it hit like a tsunami. I clung to the wall and desperately tried to hold back the waves of nausea that were pushing and pulling at my stomach.

In my defense, I did make it halfway to the bathroom before I lost control and began to vomit like crazy. I covered a large portion of the floor and walls before I managed to get my head over the toilet. To put it nicely, it wasn't pretty and I was still pretty busy praying to the porcelain god when Yami and his slave arrived.

So there I was, dizzy, shaking and sweaty, with a headache the size of Japan, heaving stomach acid into my toilet while Yami, the leader of all vampires, stood on my front porch, trying not to faint or be ill himself from the energy produced by Marik's death.

(From what I gather, Yugi, Yami's slave, thought we were dying and I'm pretty sure he was close to pissing himself in fear. What the hell was going on in Yami's relationship with Yugi, I haven't a clue, but at the time I wasn't too interested. I'm still not terribly interested.)

Ryou told Yugi to stay outside with Yami, but he stayed inside. He looked torn, as if debating with himself. I suppose half of him was dying to fuck everything and chance a runner, but the rest was too scared to chance it. I hadn't hurt him yet, but even a baby hunter knows not to mess with an angry, powerful vampire if you can avoid it. I suppose another part of him wanted to kill me while I was out of commission. If I had been him, I would have. It was a perfect opportunity for the most part, but he lacked a weapon and Yami was waiting on the porch. He probably didn't fancy his odds for getting away with it, which probably would have been fucking awful.

Anyhow, it was almost a good half an hour before Yami and I were back to anything resembling decent health. I brought out a couple of bottles of water and a few cans of Spaghetti-O's, which the four of us ate cold. We didn't really speak; we just sat there, re-hydrating and getting some of our strength back. Yugi and Ryou didn't eat much, so they finished first. Yami finished his food before I did, but he hadn't been nearly as sick as I had been, and I ended up being sick in the bushes outside my house twice. At any rate, no one said anything until I was done with my meal.

"Marik?" Yami asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. It must have been close by; I felt it pretty fucking strongly, without much warning."

"How much warning?"

"About ten seconds."

"One kilometer from here? Are you sure?"

"Would I bullshit you?" I asked and there was a slight pause. "Don't answer that. And I said 'about,' dumb ass. It could have been anything from ten to twenty seconds."

"Shit. What are the odds we're going to find him with that kind of freaking radius to work with, huh?" Yami snorted and I shot him a glare.

"We aren't going to find him, you ass!" I snapped angrily. "We're looking for a corpse, remember? A fucking stiff!"

"I know it hurts to lose a child…"

"Shut the fuck up, Yami. I don't want to hear any of that shit leave your mouth again," I snorted as I looked the other way. "Forget it; just forget it. If we're going to find his body, we'd better get the hell on with it. Come on, Ryou."

"Hold up, you stupid… ugh," Yami growled as he grabbed Yugi by the arm and hurried after us. Yami trailed behind for a few minutes while he made a couple phone calls, called in a favor or two and got his child, Mai, to organize a few search parties.

"Bakura? What's going on?" Ryou asked as we hurried through the section of the city we had been given to search. Yami and Yugi, who were also with us, looked over to see what I would say.

"When a vampire dies, they release a certain energy that only other vampires feel. The stronger the dead vampire, the further the shock waves travel. I was really close to where Marik died, and he was really strong, so I took a hell of a beating; that's what made me sick."

"Don't you know where he is?"

"No, but we need to find him. We've still got to fucking bury him." I shrugged. "It's a custom."

"And… what's a child?"

"A vampire's child is someone that a vampire changed."

"Changed?"

"Into a vampire. I was Marik's master and he was my child, see? Christ, I thought you were a fucking hunter."

"I am! But we never learn anything about vampire culture. It's never been part of our training; we just learn to… uh… kill," Ryou admitted, blushing though I had no idea why. I heard Yami's cell phone ring and Yami called for a break while he answered it. We stood around for a moment while Yami talked with his caller. After a minute, Yami muttered a goodbye and hung up.

"And?"

"They found him. No one's touched him but we'd better go down there and have a look. It won't be long before _someone_ calls the police and they come poking around."

"How… bad is the stupid fucker?" I asked.

"They're not sure. There's a lot of blood, but he's face down, so… yeah."

"Okay. Let's go," I sighed, as I looked down the street.

We didn't have far to walk, actually. It was only a couple of blocks and down a rather long alleyway. The area wasn't deserted, per se. There was a Seven-Eleven across the street from where Marik was lying but the store was closed for repairs and the other small shops surrounding it were closed. There was also an apartment block a bit further down the street, but considering the area, the residents probably weren't terribly concerned with gun shots and shouting.

I know we were incredibly lucky that no one had called the police about Marik's body by the time we got there, but at the time I would have welcomed a decent fight with some sort of goddamned authority figure.

…

Whatever.

By the time we got to the sight, Yami and I had both picked up the strong scent of a hunter and there had probably been more than one of those fuckers there.

"Shit. Hunters," Yami muttered, pointing out the fucking obvious. I looked over to see that he was clenching and unclenching his fists in anger and his eyes had narrowed into slits. "Killed by fucking hunters."

"Yami," I warned, sensing the growing anger in him.

"What?! 'Yami' what?! Calm down? Relax? Don't make a scene, Yami? Well, fuck you, Bakura! This was another unpro-fucking-voked attack, and you know it. Marik was never armed and he never messed with hunters. No one gets to his age by doing that!" Yami shouted at me before he turned his attention to Ryou. I had, stupidly, shot a glance over at Ryou, who had begun to move away from Yami, and Yami's eyes followed my gaze. I cured my idiocy and took a step towards Yami, hoping to divert his attention. I was wrong.

"It's your fucking kind, you bastard. You lot think you're so fucking good and pure, but you're nothing more than scum! You're terrorizing my people! You're hurting them and all my people want is peace, you hear me? Why don't you leave us the fuck alone, shit head! All this means is war, get that? We don't want a goddamned fight, but now were gonna have to. What have you got to say?!" Yami hissed as he reached out to grab Ryou, but I took another step closer and gripped his wrist, pulling my body between them. Yugi put a calming hand on Yami's back to try and calm him down, but Yami only spared him a passing, scathing, glance.

"Shut. Up," I hissed, shaking Yami to refocused his attention back on me. I gripped his wrist tighter and gave it another small shake. "Don't be fucking stupid, you ass."

"Don't be stupid? It's his fucking type that causes us, our kind, pain. The only good hunter is a fucking dead one."

"He's not involved, shit head. You can't fault someone for their blood," I sneered, knowing full well that, for Yami, heritage and being blamed for the faults of your family hit harder than a foot in the balls ever could.

"He's still a damn hunter," Yami snorted as he wrenched his wrist free, but he backed up and returned his attention to Marik's corpse. We were silent for a moment; Yami watching Marik, and I watching Yami. "You wanna?"

"No," I sighed, looking down the street in a pitiful attempt to appear casual. I noticed that Ryou and Yugi had backed off a few steps, as if standing a distance away out of respect for the moment. Or perhaps it was fear of Yami. Interesting; I'd never actually thought of it like that. "You can if you want to."

"Fine, fine. Leave it the fuck to me and I'll do all the dirty work," Yami grumbled as he knelt next to Marik's body and rolled him over. "Oh my…well, shit. There's a hunter over here."

"What?" I asked, mildly surprised.

"Yeah, here, in the bushes; it looks like he was dragged here though. Jesus, he's stiff as a board with a damn bullet through his heart. Hmm, and two more in his chest. Holy fuck; these are silver bullets, hunter bullets. You'd better take a look at this, Bakura. I mean, killed by his own kind? It's the only way, but…" Yami frowned as he motioned for me to get nearer. I walked over and looked down.

"Damn it. That's Marik's boyfriend," I whispered, recognizing the boy's face. "Just… oh, fuckin' hell."

"Who is…?" Yugi asked as he and Ryou walked over. I heard Yugi give a small gasp of surprise as he saw the body of the hunter. "Oh, my God… Malik."

And Ryou began screaming.


	8. 08 H 1 B

AN: This chapter, and any other chapter with a 'B' after the title is actually one of two time lines. I couldn't decide what should happen in Honda's experience, so I wrote down both options. My BETA reader and I decided that the 'B' line was better. I will be posting the 'A' time line when this story is fully posted.

Chapter 8: Closet Otogi [B]

Name: Honda Hiroto

Age: 70

Birth date: April 19, 1990

Current Residence: The United States of America (City withheld)

Origin: Tokyo, Japan

Living Family: None

Parents: Dead (All I know of them is that they were hunters)

Hair: Brown (I now have a few gray hairs as well)

Eyes: Brown

Height: 180 cm (5 ft, 9 in.)

Weight: 65 Kg (143 lbs.)

Identifying Marks: Various scars; Tattoo of flames around upper arm

Begin Entry 

This is Honda Hiroto.

I apologize for replying to you e-mail in English, but my Japanese is a little rusty from fifty years of disuse. I hope you understand.

Anyway, it's nice to hear from you again, Kaiba. It's been a while since we saw each other last. I don't suppose you've aged a second since I last saw you; however, I have aged a good deal. Fifty years is an exhausting amount of time for us mortals. Yes, even us hunters. Contrary to popular belief, we age just as normal mortals do. Sucks, eh?

I know I'm not as young as I used to be, but I like to think my mind is as sharp as it always was.

Yes, well, about the battle… hummmm. I'm sure there are plenty of places I can start this story from, but they're all pretty boring. Prior to where I will begin, Otogi and I were just running around fighting a shit load of red tape. So, I'm beginning with Malik's funeral.

Frankly, the whole situation was a load of bullshit and I still hate myself for it. I actually talked with Malik a couple hours before he was shot. That little punk was a little antsy about something, but he wouldn't tell me what. I'd noticed he'd been acting that way a lot for a couple of months.

Personally, I suspected drugs. Wouldn't you? He'd get jittery, disappear for a while and come back a few days later sedate as a tranquilizer. I'd talked to him about it a few times and even got Otogi's dad to order a blood test on Malik twice, but he always came up clean, so I let the issue drop. I figured if he was clean enough for a surprise drug test, he was clean enough to be healthy.

God, I'm such a screw up.

Anyway, that's why I wasn't too worried about Malik when he just said he was going away for a bit. I asked him if he needed some money, but he said he didn't, so I told him to have fun and went back to helping Otogi with his work.

We were trying to get another group together to search for Ryou and Yugi. We were really worried, especially since this had been the second attack on Ryou within two months. Otogi had been badgering his dad to get some sort of bargaining committee together to negotiate with the vampires for the pair's release.

In hindsight, yes, our work probably did a bit to raise anti-vampire sentiment. On the other hand, all of the other clan leaders were angry about the kidnapping and two or three of the clan leaders had been initiated that year and were eager to make a name for themselves. Not to mention, there's always a group of hunters who'll take any reason to kill a couple of vampires and they were taking all the hits they could. The mix was pretty ugly and no one needed Otogi and me stirring it up any. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, a little bit later one of the clan leaders sent around a group of minions asking after Malik. I told them I hadn't seen him all day, because everyone knows flunkies from a clan leader are bad news, and I'm no rat. The underlings weren't too happy, but they left without much of a fuss and Otogi and I went back to work.

We didn't really think anything of it, until the next day when a friend of Otogi's father came by and told us that Malik was dead.

We finally made it down to the morgue and Otogi went in to look. I tried, I really did, but I found that I couldn't force myself to look at Malik's face. I don't know how Otogi did it; I couldn't handle it. In my defense, I managed to step through the door before I turned around and left. So I sat out in the hall and tried not to listen to Isis's tears or Otogi's voice. I tried to blank out my mind but I couldn't.

I kept getting stuck on the fact that Malik was dead. I knew he was never going to come back, but I couldn't get my head around it. I just couldn't imagine it. Have you ever seen a child, maybe a toddler? Well, if you're ever doing something when they're around and you tell them not to do something, they get this look in their eyes. They'll look right at you, do exactly what you told them not to do, and run off, ever so pleased with themselves. Well, Malik always had that look in his eyes. They shone with that mischievous light and I simply couldn't think of those eyes staring straight ahead, dead to the world.

I knew that he was never going to come over to my place for dinner or talk with me about bikes again or help me fix my own sorry excuse for a bike. He was never going to complain about Isis and Rashid, or wonder if he would ever find anyone for him. He was never going to listen to Otogi and me complain about each other again and he was never going to annoy my neighbors by roaring down my street at three in the morning. Otogi, Ryou, Malik and I were never going to go on an all-night ride again. We were never going to meet up for bike races.

He was gone and the fact ripped at my chest. I just knew that looking at him would have hurt too much, you know? I couldn't bear to cement the fact into my heart and mind, even though the elusive fact was already taking root.

I guess I was blaming myself for what happened. There was a bit of 'well, if only I'd watched out for him more' and a bit of 'why wasn't I a better friend'. All those ideas and all that guilt was bouncing around my head and they were sort of pressing me into the floor, like someone had taped an anvil to my back.

That was all _before_ I read the report, _before _I found out he'd been shot by a silver bullet, _before_ I discovered that _our_ people had killed him. That was _before_ I found out the hunter's records had his cause of death as due to a vampire attack. What a load of… of fucking bullshit!

That's really all I could think about until the burial two days after Malik's death. There was a large crowd at the funeral. The group was mostly hunters, but there were a few Malik had known from school. Otogi and I came together but we stood in the back of the large gathering. We kept our heads bowed during the entire service and stayed out of the way, unwilling to attract any showy attention and sympathy. Isis and Rashid, Malik's sister and brother-in-law, did not attend to funeral at all. To be honest, I really respect them for that. I know Isis must have been dying to attend, as she and Malik were really close; however, the false sympathy and half-hearted regret would have killed her.

The entire thing was a circus for the hunters. It was disgusting.

But Otogi and I stayed until the rest of the crowd had cleared out, which was around three, since the service had started around one. We didn't really discuss anything but we didn't really need to. We just stood there and thought.

Ironically, I think Otogi broke the silence first. Of course, he didn't speak because the silence was oppressive; not at all. He spoke because there were some things that needed to be said and understood between us.

"I hate them."

"I know. I do too."

"They… they killed him and then they come to his funeral!"

"They've also lied about his death. They won't take the blame."

"I know. I heard my dad talking about the cover up. The four murderers are being sent out of the country in a few months. They'll be put on low-risk assignments for the rest of their days. Those assholes are just hiding their embarrassing little secret."

"Well, the vampires aren't too happy either, I'd imagine."

"No, they wouldn't be, would they. We were fools, weren't we?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Perhaps. On the other hand, it's hard to resist twenty years of ingrained beliefs."

"But… was Malik a spy?"

"Maybe. Could have been. But I don't care. That's no reason to execute him on the spot. No trial, no mercy. He was killed like a vampire."

We stood in silence before I walked over to Otogi and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Otogi?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't support our people. This is wrong."

"I know… but…"

"But?"

"My father. It's more than just right and wrong. I can't go against him, Honda."

"You scared?"

"Yes. You don't get it, Honda."

"Then explain it to me!" I demanded, turning him around so I could look him in the face, but he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"They own me, Honda. I… You… Our status is so different. It's true that you're strong, stronger than I am. But I'm an heir! One day I'm going to be the leader of my clan! That's a lot of power, and they don't dish that out lightly. They've got me trapped; I'm shackled to them."

"What have they got on you? Didn't brush your teeth before bed once when you were six?"

"Not blackmail; it's not them. I'm just… scared. I'm nothing without them. I'm not strong and powerful like you are. But the people are watching me. If I step out of line, the people will notice and some might follow me. I'm a danger and the clan leaders won't hesitate to crush me in an instant. I can't escape; even my dad's on their side."

"So you're just going to let this happen and… and go along with it?" I spat, pulling away sharply.

"Yes." I saw Otogi nod and I gaped at him stunned. I was saved from trying to formulate a response by Isis's arrival with Rashid. They came without a word and stood by Malik's grave, quietly paying their respects. Otogi and I didn't say a word, understanding their need for silence.

I, for one, could not believe what was happening. Otogi was usually so confident and assured. I'd seen him bluff his way out of fights. I'd seen him come out of the closet without breaking a sweat or worrying a moment. Hell, he never cared what people thought about him. That was one of the reasons I loved him so much. He was who he was and he never cared. But this. Going against the clans and siding with the vampires seemed to shake him beyond anything I had ever seen. I… didn't understand it.

Isis and Rashid stood in silence for a while before Isis turned to look over at Otogi and me.

"Thank you for coming," Isis nodded, her normally serious face pinched with stress. I looked closely at her eyes, but I couldn't see any emotion. She just looked… tired.

"We came because we were friends," Otogi replied.

"Were any others?" Rashid asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

"A few. Mostly normals," I replied.

"Understandable," Isis nodded again. "Otogi. Your father and the others are talking war. They are preparing as we speak."

"When will it be official?" Otogi asked nervously.

"I don't know; no one does. The leaders will wait until the vampires declare it, but they want to be ready."

"Is there another way?"

"No. There is too much outcry on both sides. The route of fate has been set."

"Hn," I grunted, letting her know what I thought of her fate.

"We're canceling the wedding," Rashid interjected, cutting off Isis's angry tirade before she could start. She always did take fate seriously.

"What? Why?" Otogi asked.

"We're going out tonight to have it done quietly. Isis feels that a war is an inappropriate time for a wedding."

"And I do not wish to wait," Isis muttered, her eyes meeting Rashid's.

"We'd better go then," Rashid sighed and Isis nodded. "Good night. Stay safe."

"Stay safe," Isis echoed and the pair left, without waiting for a response.

Otogi let out a small sigh and turned to leave. He paused when he reached my side and kissed my lips softly.

"See you at home."

"But… what about the war?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"The clans have me in a tight hold, Honda. I can't do what I want; not like you."

"What is that supposed to mean for me?"

"Look, I'm not going to hold it against you… if you leave the hunters."

"And if we face each other in battle? What'll we do then, eh?" I snapped angrily.

"I guess we'll find out then," Otogi shrugged, loosening my hand from his shoulder. He walked out of the cemetery and waved at me over his shoulder. I frowned and looked back at Malik's grave.

"Damn it, Malik, look what you've begun. You just had to do this. Don't you see what you've done? There's a rift. A fucking rift in our clans, and it's never going to heal; it's never going to mend. There's going to be a war, and I know who I've got to pick a side. But it's a catch-22; either way I'm screwed," I whispered. "I just… I guess… I… goodbye, Malik."

I turned to go and slowly made my way towards the exit when a slight movement caught my attention. Just inside the cemetery limits, there was a man leaning his back against the fencing of the cemetery and he was looking over at Malik's grave as if examining it from a distance. I blinked quickly, not believing my eyes. It couldn't be Ryou! I took a few steps towards the man before realizing that it _wasn't_ Ryou.

However there was a good deal of similarity. The man and Ryou had the same color hair and eyes. They were even close to the same size in height--only an inch or so difference--but this man's hair and eyes were more angular and sharp. His attitude and posture were more aggressive, as well.

But this man must have known Malik, I thought, or at least known _of_ him. I made up my mind to talk with him and began to cross the cemetery grounds, but after a second the man looked over at me and cocked an eyebrow as if daring me to come closer. I hesitated for a second and before I knew it, the man was gone. He had disappeared before my eyes.


	9. 09 B 4

Chapter 9: Necropolis (City of the Dead)

Name: Bakura

Begin Entry 

So yeah. After finding Marik and his boy-toy, Malik, there were another two days of boring monotony before the funerals. Some things just get slower with time, and funerals are one of them. When I was still a normal, people got buried the day of, or the day after, their death. No screwing around, no matter what. Period. So with all this 'improved technology,' why am I still wasting almost seventy-two hours to see my child get buried? (And that's only because we got a vampire at the morgue to let some stuff slip, and edit some papers to hurry it along). 'Improved technology', my ass. Just a fancy way of saying 'we're taking our own sweet time, so screw you!' Well, there's this handy finger for technology freaks!

However, I was busy the day of the funeral. I heard that Marik's boy-toy was being buried on the same day (there was probably a hunter at the morgue as well), so I took a little trip before Marik's funeral to… ahem… 'pay my respects'.

I know you're laughing. Fuck you.

I went alone because Ryou was still upset. Crying and moping all day! We both knew the funeral would kill him, so we never even discussed him attending.

There was also the fact that he was a little more nervous around me than usual. I'd like to say, here and now, that what I did was not malicious in any way, shape or form. What would you do? The idiot was standing there, screaming his head off because he saw the dead body of his friend. We were gonna get caught! I tried shaking him and shouting at him, but he only screamed louder. So I punched him. Twice. A right hook and an upper cut. Just enough for him to pass out. Who wouldn't have done the same?

… Right. Where was I? Oh, the funeral. Well, I waited a while to give everyone at the funeral time to clear out. The last thing I wanted was for some hunter to find out that I was a vampire. There were bound to be plenty of hunters there and I, sure as hell, didn't want to become Swiss cheese.

I finally found the place and I hopped the fence. I searched for the stone with that Malik's name engraved on it and quickly spotted it. I didn't even realize that there was that hunter there until he started to walk towards me. I stared at him and he seemed to pause for a second. Taking my chance, I ran like hell towards a family vault and leapt onto the small building to wait.

After a few minutes of looking around for me, the hunter gave up. Or at least, I assume him did. However, I didn't wind up with a bullet in my head, so at the very least he didn't hunt my ass down. In all honesty, which is hard for me, the hunter scared me a little. I could tell he wasn't a push over, not in the least. He was definitely someone to watch out for.

And I did watch out for him. I was watching my back the entire night and I didn't even dare to go home for a while, in case he was following me. My habit of not inviting anyone into my house wasn't going to stop a hunter. So I hung out for a bit and bought myself a coffee. Around eight o'clock, I went back to my house and got Ryou, who had managed to find some of my black clothes that fit him.

(He'd been wearing a white sweater and blue jeans. Nothing suitable for a funeral, he told me. I assured him that _Marik_ wasn't going to care, but he replied that it was a respect issue, so I left him to his own devices. Apparently in his home country of England, one wears black to funerals. I was aware that certain countries have customs concerning wear to funerals, but I'd never thought about it since vampires don't have any silly restrictions like that.)

Ryou and I were the last to arrive at Marik's grave, because when I arrived, the real funeral got started. I mean, sure, Marik had been buried earlier that day in a normal's ceremony, but I don't think anyone had bothered to attend, since it didn't mean anything to us. The only ceremony that matters to vampires are funerals for our kind. (I had to run Marik's, since I was the closest vampire relative to him.)

When Ryou and I got there, we found Jou, Yami, his slave, and Mai already waiting. There were a few others, but I didn't know them too well, so I mostly ignored them. I walked straight over to Jou, ignoring the vampires who were busting a gut about Ryou's presence, and we bowed to each other.

"I am sorry about your master," I sighed, repeating my lines.

"And I am sorry about your child," Jou nodded, before looking over at Ryou. "Who's the hunter?"

"A slave," I shrugged.

"Ryou!" A young vampire squealed as he ran from behind Jou and hugged Ryou violently. I felt Jou grab my shoulder as I moved to pull the punk off… my Ryou.

… Shut up.

"Mokuba!" Ryou laughed, almost crying. "I thought you were dead. Oh, Christ, we all thought you were dead!"

"But I am," Mokuba smirked showing off his fangs.

"Who's the kid?" I asked looking over at Jou.

"My child."

"Since when?"

"Over a month."

"Was he the one in the attack?"

"Give me a little credit; I wouldn't have changed him if he wasn't," Jou snorted. "He is rather young, isn't he?"

"He'll mature," I shrugged, before I stalked over to Ryou and pulled Mokuba off him. I glared down at Mokuba, before narrowing my eyes and giving him a once over. "Humph. What a punk."

Taking Ryou's hand, I walked over to the grave, and tried not to smirk when I heard Jou explaining to Mokuba that, for me, 'punk' was positively a compliment.

I reached Yami's side and Yami nodded to show he was ready. The others, excepting Ryou and Yugi, quickly lined up and quietly waited for me to begin. I pulled out a silver switchblade and let out a small sigh.

"Bakura. Master," I began and looked over at Yami.

"Yami. Friend."

"Kujaku Mai. Friend."

"Jounouchi Katsuya. Child."

"Kaiba Mokuba. Uh, child's child."

And so on down the line. When everyone was finished, I slid the silver blade across the palm of my hand, reopening an old scar, and let some of my blood fall onto Marik's grave.

"One last meal for Marik," I sighed and everyone repeated the process down the line. Once they were done, the group slowly disbanded, muttering condolences to me as they left.

"There's a council meeting in an hour and a half," Yami told me as he turned to go. "Will you be there?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I might be a bit late, but I'll come."

"Good. Don't dwell on this; he was old."

"I know," I frowned and Yami left, taking Yugi with him. I waited until he was out of sight before finishing my thought. "But so am I."

"Bakura?" Ryou asked, when the visitors had finally left. I had been standing silently near Malik's grave, not having said a word since Yami had left.

"What?"

"We're the only ones here. Shouldn't you… we be going?"

"Scared? No one here is going to do you any damage, you know."

"I'm not scared," Ryou snapped, but I could hear a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Good. Now shut up. I need to talk with Marik," I told him, before I went over to the grave and knelt next to it.

"Well, Marik," I began with a smirk, after a moment of silence. "I told you so."


	10. 10 S 4

Chapter 10: Heed my Warning

Name: Kaiba Seto

Begin Entry 

I was in my bedroom/office, working on a couple of extra files when you came home from your 'outing' with Jou. You came running up the stairs, yelling for me, while Jou jumped the two floors and managed to sit on the ledge outside my window. I opened the window so he could listen in and nodded in greeting. He nodded back but, other than those simple motions, we ignored each other. We always did until you left. Once you were gone either Jou would leave as well or we would talk for a while.

We never really had a set topic, and sometimes the conversations were just a couple of grunted words here and there. Sometimes they were really in depth, though. Those conversations were often really scary--terrifying, even--but we learned a lot about each other. Sometimes, I wonder if we didn't learn too much.

The one I remember best, one of our first conversations, was perhaps the most terrifying and, for no real reason, I was thinking about it that night.

See, I used to wonder why Jou never asked to be invited inside. Never, not once. He always sat on the windowsill, even of buildings that we were only visiting. If he couldn't enter by himself, Jou didn't go in. So, this one time I asked him about it.

"No I don't! Not always," he sort of snorted, as he brushed his hair out of his face.

"But you never ask, or allow, anyone to invite you in. Why?"

"Because."

"That's not a good reason."

"I'm a vampire."

"Your reasons suck."

"I'm dangerous."

"Hn. You saved my brother's life, didn't you? How dangerous is that?"

"It's the blood addiction. I don't know what it is, but I've never been able to fight it very well. Maybe it's the fact that I used to be HIV positive."

"What? Used to be?"

"Yeah. I got it in '89… '90, right around when the doctors were first learning about it. It's actually why I became a vampire. Of course, now my bloods as pure as it used to be." Jou paused for a moment, but I didn't say anything. What could I say?

"My little sister died when I was eighteen, you know. My dad was a doctor, but after her death, he sank into depression. He always felt that he should have been able to diagnose her brain cancer. So when I found out I had gotten HIV from a one-night stand, I knew it would crush my father. He wouldn't have been able to save me. What doctor wants to lose both his children to diseases? So, I brought my boyfriend home, and let my father find out that I was gay."

"How'd he take it?"

"Awfully, like I planned. The bastard threw me out on my ass, but I figured it was best that way. I'd just disappear, and he'd never be any the wiser. And then I met Marik at a bar, after I'd broken up with my old boyfriend."

"And he changed you?"

"Yes. But soon after I became a vampire, I took up with this boy, Rex. He was really nice, but one night he started bleeding and I… I just couldn't resist. I knew I was draining his life but I couldn't stop," Jou sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"He managed to escape, and he ran to a friend's house like I told him to during my only bout of sanity that night. But… I followed him… into the apartment because I'd already been invited inside. I killed Rex… and his friend… and his friend's girlfriend. And the worst bit is that I don't really remember it… at all. I just blacked out once I managed to grab Rex. I woke up lying next to Rex's friend's girlfriend and her pale, dead face was just staring at me in horror. I found Rex and his friend in the bathtub, lying naked next to each other. I had drunk them all dry.

"A couple months later I saw a security tape that had captured the whole thing. It was disgusting. I played with them and not just before I killed them. I played with them afterwards. I made them do sickening… things… in order to save their own lives only to kill them later.

"I… I don't want to talk about it anymore. I just… I don't want to go inside a human's house ever again. They need all the protection they can get, and I don't want to ruin that for them in a moment of weakness."

I've never forgotten what Jou told me, or the revolted way he looked at himself when he talked about it.

I heard the door to my room/office burst open, jolting me from my thoughts and I turned to face you as you ran into my room. I opened my arms slightly and allowed you to grab me around the waist in a fierce hug. You stumbled in your haste to get to me and we ended up sprawled in my swivel chair, laughing. I helped you get to your feet and at once noticed the bloody strips of cloth that you had wrapped around your hand.

"Mokuba, what's this?" I asked, cutting you off before you could tell me all about your newest adventure. "You're bleeding. What happened?"

"Huh? Oh, that," you shrugged. "Jou took me to a funeral! And we each cut our hand to show respect for the dead!"

"You what?! You mutilated yourself for a stiff? And why are you still bleeding?! No, forget that! You opened up a wound around a mess of vampires?!" I've since decided that I was hysterical, but I didn't realize, at the time, that I was shaking you so hard.

"OW! Seto! It hurts!" You cried, and I let go instantly.

"Sorry."

"You don't need to worry so much," Jou offered, from his seat outside the window. He turned to look at me and held up his hand, which was also still bleeding. "We cut ourselves with silver blades. We bleed longer, but no vampire would touch a wound with silver in it. Besides, every vampire feeds before attending the funeral, in case they're sent over the edge and the addiction takes hold. We may be incurable blood addicts, but we aren't stupid or irreverent."

I shot him a look to tell him we'd talk later, but soon looked back at you because you were tugging vigorously on my arm.

"But guess what, Seto! It was totally cool! We went to a war council!"

"A what?" I asked blandly, your words not fully sinking in.

"A war council! We're gonna declare war on those hunters! And we all get to fight! Even me! Isn't that cool, Seto?!"

"I think it's past your bedtime, Mokuba," I quickly snapped in response. I finally could grasp what you were saying… and I wasn't happy in the least.

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Go to bed."

"But I…"

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO GO TO BED?!" I shouted angrily. "I AM YOUR OLDER BROTHER, SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!"

"Seto…" you whispered, sounding hurt. "All right."

I heard you shuffle over to the door and I let out a long sigh.

"Wait up a little and I'll tuck you in," I sighed and I could hear your steps pick up a bit, though not much. Jou didn't say anything as I made my way over to the window, so I didn't say anything either. We just stood there, silently regarding each other.

"Well?" Jou finally asked. "What do you have to say to me? Better make it quick; I'm a little hungry."

"Look, Jou, what's the big idea? How irresponsible are you? You took my brother to a mutilation feast and he cut himself! I'm not going to stand for that type of shit."

"Not your choice. He needs to learn vampire customs now, not when you're dead and can't have your say anymore."

"Couldn't you have taught him without hands-on training? He doesn't need to know this bull anyway!"

"He does if he outlives me! There are plenty of customs he can blow off, but never a funeral. If he's the closest relation to the twice deceased, or he is within the death radius, he must come! Funerals are a big deal for us vampires, get it? It reminds us of our own mortality," Jou shouted, smacking his hand against the window in anger. "I'd say that ninety-nine percent of my lot don't become vampires on a whim. We do it to escape death. I did; Mokuba did; my master did. Hell, even our leader, Yami, did! We're the guys that want to outrun death, and funerals for our kind remind us that, wow, sooner or later, we're as screwed as you mortals are. So we remind ourselves and grieve in our own way."

"Why do I get the feeling that I shouldn't be surprised that your 'grieving' involves self-mutilation? I mean, my brother just told me that not only did you let him cut himself, but you also took him to a war council. WAR! That's when people kill each other."

"Glad you know your language so well."

"Stow it! There is no way in hell my brother's going off to any type of life-or-death battle!"

"You don't really have a choice."

"He's a ten year old boy! Not a warrior!"

"He's a vampire! A vampire, Seto, and that makes him a warrior, whether or not you actually like the idea. And someday there's going to be a battle, even if it isn't tomorrow or the next day. The vampires are angry, very angry. My master, Marik, was old, powerful and influential, not to mention he was killed without a chance to fight back. Things have been heating up for a while, so there's nothing anyone can do to stop it! I'm sorry that your brother's going to have to fight; really, I am. He's a nice kid, and I like him a lot, but life sucks. So, he's screwed. You're screwed. I'm screwed. We're all fucking _screwed_!" Jou spat, angrily, his voice slowly growing angrier and louder with every word.

I blinked at him in shock and surprise. I'd never seen him so worked up. Seeing my look, Jou hung his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"So let's just… call it a day. God, I need a dose to relax with," Jou sighed, his tongue darting out to lick his lips.

"So there's nothing I can do?" I asked, a plan forming in my mind.

"Nope."

"So, I guess, I have no choice then," I shrugged, as I bit my lip, nervous about my next step.

"Seto? What are talking about?" Jou asked, shifting so that he could look at me more comfortable.

"You're going to have to change me too."

"I'm sorry, my Japanese must be worse than I thought. Can you repeat that?" Jou frowned, confusion written clearly all over his face.

"Turn me into a vampire, like you and Mokuba. At least, I can protect him then."

"But…"

"Come in, Jou," I invited him. He didn't move for a second and I was afraid he would refuse to even come inside. Grabbing a letter opener off my desk, I made a small incision on my neck. There was a second's pause, then a heart beat, and blood began to trickle out of the wound. I looked Jou in the eye and I knew I couldn't turn back anymore. "Well? Aren't you coming in?"

Before I could really figure out what was happening, Jou had launched himself through the window and was flying towards me. Knocking me over, Jou and I fell onto my bed in a large lump. Before I could catch my breath, Jou was straddling me and had my shoulders pinned against the mattress.

You should note that I dislike being pinned or trapped in any way. I hate the feeling that I'm losing control. Without control, I'm just a slave, and that will never happen to me again, I promise you that, Mokuba.

I tried to shake Jou's grip from my shoulders but he remained firm and he firmly settled his weight on my hips, forcing me to remain still.

"Jou?" I asked, when Jou wouldn't stop staring at me. He had this unexplainable light in his eye. I hadn't ever seen it before, but I knew enough to be nervous. I could feel my forehead begin to sweat, and I tried to brush it away, but I couldn't reach that far up.

"You're really stupid, you know that, right?" Jou whispered, as he finally moved to press his lips to my neck and lick at the blood, stilling the flow of blood for a second. For a couple seconds, Jou continued this process, while speaking with me. "Shedding blood around a vampire is insanity, Seto. And worse still, shedding blood around me. Don't you remember what I did to Rex?"

I didn't say anything; I was too scared. I hadn't imagined it would turn out like that. I don't know what I thought was going to happen, but it wasn't that. I could feel him kissing, licking, sucking at my neck and I bit my lip out of fear.

Of course, my silence only served to make Jou even madder. He pulled his face away from my neck and looked down at me. His fingers tensed around my shoulders and his eyes narrowed. Pulling my torso up by my shoulders, Jou shook me roughly and slammed my head back into the bed.

"Tell me, Seto! What did I do, eh? What?!"

"You killed him."

"After torturing him and his friends. Foolish, Seto. Just plain stupid!" Jou growled. "And do you want to know what I'm going to do to you?"

"No…" I began, but Jou quickly kissed me full on the mouth so I couldn't speak. Finally, he pulled away and I gasped for breath, as Jou began to talk.

"First I'm going to kiss you." Jou grinned, before kissing me again. I tried to protest, but Jou managed to slip his tongue into my mouth instead. My eyes flew open as I realized that I wasn't tasting Jou; I was tasting my own blood! I tried bucking my hips in a futile attempt to get his body off mine, but all Jou did was grind his hips against mine and stop kissing me for a second.

"Not just yet, Seto," Jou winked, before he began to kiss random places on my jawbone and neck.

"Jou. Stop," I tried to command him, but he only laughed.

"Rex said that too. Than I killed him," Jou told me as he started to undo the buttons of my shirt with his teeth and tongue. Slowly, his hands stroked my arms and made their way to my wrists. Pulling my hands above my head, Jou kissed me again and before I knew it my hands had been tied to the headboard with my own bed sheets. I tugged lightly on the bed sheets, and when I realized they were really holding my wrists back, I began to panic.

I don't think I had taken Jou's threats really seriously until that moment. I had been frightened, and nervous, but I hadn't really believed it was happening; I hadn't believed that he meant me harm. But with my arms restrained, it hit home; I lost any calm I had had before.

"Get off me, now. Right now, Jou! This isn't funny, Jounouchi," I gasped as Jou nipped at my right nipple. "I me-AH!"

"Shut up, Seto," Jou growled, glaring up at me. His hands quickly trailed down my sides, stroking my skin and setting it on fire with his touch. His left hand tweaked my left nipple and his right hand slipped down my stomach towards my pants.

"OH GOD!" I cried, again trying to buck him off. "STOP! DON'T TOUCH ME! Please! Please; oh, God! STOP!"

"God isn't going to help you, you know," Jou smirked. "It's just me and you here. Even Mokuba isn't going to help. He knows better than to get involved in his master's business. You're all alone. And you know what? You're all mine."

I looked up at him and tried to breathe properly. I tried to regain my mind and figure a way out, but I couldn't see anything, no matter where I looked, and I was looking REALLY hard. I was so scared, a little part in the back of my mind was praying. Hell if I didn't pull out the stops.

I closed my eyes as I felt Jou's hands roam over my stomach and unbutton my pants. I tried to kick at him, but I couldn't reach him and he wouldn't budge. I bucked wildly, whimpering and close to crying. I just wanted him to stop. I almost wished I was dead.

"My! Seto, are you scared?" Jou asked. I shook my head, no, but I wasn't terribly convincing. I was like a cowering child, for God's sake! "I think you are. I can smell it on you. You reek of it. I think… you're just scared enough."

I cracked one eye open and watched as he leaned closer to my neck, his fangs exposed.

"No." I tried one last time. "Don't! DON'T!"

But he didn't listen. He roughly plunged his fangs into my neck, and I cried out in surprise. I could feel the ripping as my body jerked away and the skin was sliced open by Jou's fangs.

And that was about it.

I woke up about ten minutes later to a blinding light shining in my eyes.

"Ugh." I muttered. "What the hell…?"

"Good, you're up," A loud voice boomed at me. I blinked a couple times, and finally decided I was going to have to squint to see properly. I felt a slight weight on my chest and found a pair of sunglasses lying on my naked chest. "You should wear those until your eyes adjust to indoor lighting. Keep the glasses though; sunlight's going to burn your eyes for the rest of your…. unnatural life."

I put on the sunglasses and looked over at Jou, who was sitting next to me on the bed.

"Why do I ache all over?" I whispered. "Did you rape me?"

"No, damn it. If I'd raped you, you'd be dead. Well, more dead than you are now," Jou sighed, but he dropped his voice to a whisper. "You ache because I changed you. The strengthened muscles and senses are putting your brain and body into overload. Don't worry though. I'd say that within a few days you'll build up a tolerance for light and noises. Until then, just consider yourself hung-over. Now, Seto… JUST HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE YOU, ANYWAY?!"

"Ow." I moaned, as I covered my ears in an attempt to protect them from Jou's shouting. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid, you idiot! Of all the thoughtless things to do in the world, that had to be the stupidest. Don't you have ANY self-preservation? Let's face it, you are so frickin' lucky that my master died recently! I've heard of one man's pain being another's joy, but this is ridiculous!" Jou continued, more to himself, than to me. "If I hadn't had a couple doses all ready tonight, I probably _would_ have killed you. You _know_ I don't have much will power when it comes to the addiction! You heard about what I've done! Even with a couple doses earlier, I still drank quite a bit of you."

"But it worked, right?"

"Hell yeah, but you might have been killed, stupid! Damn it, can't you remember even an hour back? _You_ thought you were going to die, too!"

"So what if I could have died, and so what if I was scared out of my mind for a bit. It worked, right? Why do you keep hounding this issue? You're like a dog, I swear," I muttered, as I tried to sit up and get out of bed.

"Whatever. Where do you keep your shirts?" Jou asked, as he got off the bed and went over to my dresser, leaving me to sit up on my own.

"Top drawer. No, the other one. Yeah, that one. Why do you ask?"

"You're going to need a new shirt; your last one is ruined."

"But…"

"Do you want to run around outside with out a shirt on?"

"Outside?"

"You're a new vampire! You're going to have to be educated!"

"Like with Mokuba?"

"Yep. Hurry up; there isn't much time to strengthen and teach your muscles and senses before the war."

And so, I 'trained,' as Jou called it. I ran for miles without stopping. I listened to loud music and stared at bright lights for hours on end. I learned how to handle a sword, because I could already handle a firearm, and lift weights four times my own. I learned random facts about vampire culture until I thought my head would explode.

And after two days of working without rest, Jou decided that I wouldn't get any better without increased time.

That was when I learned that vampires have a strength level that they are created with. This level increases as a vampire ages; however, the initial level is based on the vampire's emotional stress level at the time of changing. I asked Jou if that was the explanation for his actions in my room. When he admitted it was, I attempted to kill him. Sometimes, being stronger than your master has its perks.

A few days after my change, Jou came to my house a bit after eight. It was dark out, but he insisted that you and I come with him to a council meeting. I was tempted to tell the lot of them to shove it, but Jou seemed to feel that that wouldn't be a bright idea. To cut a long story short, you and Jou dragged me along. For the record, I wasn't happy, but I'm sure you already knew that.

When we finally arrived at the large building, Jou quickly introduced me to the vampire leader, a short man with odd hair. He obviously had been born into a privileged family and carried himself as if he had a stick permanently wedged up his damn ass. To this day, I maintain that Yami needed to be taken down a notch or five.

Once I was introduced, I sat down in a corner near the back and kept an eye on you because you'd gone off to talk with Ryou and Honda, who I could now tell were hunters. My new instincts were telling me that they were a danger, and I apparently wasn't the only one. Everyone, even the hunters with Ryou and Honda, was on edge.

Finally, when he had received some sort of signal, Yami began the meeting. There were many big words and long sentences exchanged between Yami and Isis, the leader of the group of hunters, but I soon figured out that, because of some internal disputes, the group of hunters were leaving their own and wanted to join with us.

There were a few who protested and Yami heard them out, but you could tell that he wasn't terribly interested in their opinion. He soon agreed to the hunter's request, saying that allies shouldn't be refused. I was a little wary of the new fighters, mostly because I was generally adverse to teamwork, but I didn't protest because I didn't care about the battles. As long as you were safe, the rest of them could have taken a nice trip to hell for all I cared.

The council was just finishing with the business presented by the hunters, when a blond vampire crashed through the doors of the building, ran through the crowd and into Jou. Falling into Jou's arms with a gasp, the woman tried to regain enough of her breath to speak. I step back, defensively, but quickly noticed she was not a threat because she was bleeding profusely from several wounds in her back.

"Mai!" Jou grunted as he tried to help her stand. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Hunters!" She finally managed, her voice strained. She closed her eyes, in obvious pain, and pressed her face into Jou's chest. "Coming. Were… ever-!"

"Jou! What's going on?" Yami yelled over the clamoring vampires.

"Mai!" Jou exclaimed as her body suddenly became dead weight in his arms and he was forced to his knees. "No!"

I inhaled sharply, learning that the woman vampire had died from several silver bullets and that a large group of hunters was making its way towards the building I was in. I pushed against the mass of vampires that had also discovered the approaching army and were preparing themselves. Some carried weapons, such as swords and staffs; others were pushing against each other to find a good weapon from one of the large displays. Scanning the crowd, I realized that, because of your short height, you were impossible to find.

There was a large crash as scores of hunters, all wearing hoods to obscure their faces, smashed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors. Raising their guns so that they could aim at the vampires that were on the upper level, they opened fire at our group, taking out a good number of the unprepared. Hitting the floor, I grabbed a sword from a fallen vampire and waited a few seconds for the element of surprise to be lost and the hunters to abandon their guns.

Standing, I looked around the battlefield and took quick notes. Fortunately, the room we were in was enormous and there was a lot of space for the sword fighting. I finally spotted a flash of your hair as you avoided a sword swipe from a hunter. There were three of the cloaked assholes and they seemed to loom over you, even though you were obviously unarmed. I began moving forward as you tripped backwards and hit your head against the steps. The leader of the attacking trio simply shrugged and drew back his silver sword, preparing a deathblow. Breaking in a full out run, I slid across the glassy-marble floor and managed to block a blow that was aimed towards you.

"Touch him and I'll kill you," I warned the hunters as I stood and held my sword in a defensive position. "I won't hesitate, either."


	11. 11 H 2 B

Chapter 11: B-Side of my Universe

Name: Honda Hiroto

Begin Entry 

Nothing of any importance happened until Isis and Rashid rounded up a group of dissenters like myself. Isis had made contact with the leader of the Vampires, a guy named Yami, and we were all supposed to meet. Apparently Isis wasn't one to just sit by and not take revenge when her brother was murdered. Well, I was game, so I came with them. I was worried when I didn't see Otogi with Isis, but I sort of knew he wouldn't be coming with us.

Anyway, the meeting wasn't much to speak of. Nothing terrible important happened until the battle began.

As for the battle? I hated it. It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever participated it. It wasn't that I'm averse to killing. Hell no. I killed my first vampire when I was thirteen or fourteen. I had been raised to respect life, to term it loosely, but be willing to take it if I had to. And when someone's swinging a weapon at your head, you don't really have a great alternative if you want to see your next birthday.

What really hit me, deep in the stomach, was how easy it was. I'd never killed a person before, only vampires. But I could easily slice a fellow hunter's throat open with my sword. They were my kind, but I was killing them without a thought, and they would have killed me without a second glance. But there were other things that happened, that I hated even more.

There was fighting all around me; vampires and hunters defending and attacking everywhere. I could feel the blood splash onto my clothes and I looked around at the carnage. There was a large staircase leading to the entrance the other hunters had come through. The fighting had begun in the entrance, but quickly it had spread to include the stairs and the upper level. I tried to decide who had the upper hand, but it was impossible to tell.

After a moment I found Isis battling a hunter near the ledge. She was pressed against the glass that divided the ledge from open air, and she was desperately trying to defend herself. Slashing across her attacker's eyes and stomach, Isis winced as the blood splashed over her face and shirt, but her opponent wasn't dead yet. Plunging her dagger into Isis's stomach, the hunter collapsed into a heap. I watched as Isis sank to her knees, pulling the dagger out of her stomach.

Leaping over a hunter's back, I ducked and spun as I tried to reach Isis and avoided getting hit with a weapon at the same time. It wasn't easy, and I still got nicked with a sword, which cut my face so badly that it has since left a scar.

When I finally reached Isis, she had already died, but I didn't know it. Her eyes were wide open and their unfocused gaze was directed on the ground to her right, away from where I stood. I knelt next to her, putting away my weapons, and tried to find a pulse, but, of course, I didn't. Looking at her hand, I found a wedding band, and smiled. At least she had been happy… a little.

I scanned the surrounding battlefield, looking for Rashid. I wondered why he hadn't run over already, demanding to know about Isis's welfare; after all, they were married. My eyes soon found his body. He was slumped against a pillar. His head lolled back so that his opened eyes were staring at the ceiling and his mouth gaped like a fish. His long ponytail was soaked with blood and the blood was still dripping down his hair from his head wound into a puddle of blood on the floor.

"Is she… dead?" A hooded figure whispered from his position behind me. His voice was muffled by his hood and the noise of fighting that surrounded us, and I barely heard him, much less understood him.

I reached over and closed Isis's dead eyes, ignoring the figure for a moment. Slowly turning on the balls of my feet, I stood and moved to leave.

"Hey! Honda, I asked if she was dead!" The figure insisted, reaching out to grab my arm. Drawing my dagger, I knocked the hand away with a slashing motion. I noted, with a hint of pride, that I had drawn blood.

"Why do you even care?" I asked, my lips forming any angry snarl. My hand went for my other dagger and I prepared to attack. "It's bastards like you that killed her!"

"Honda! STOP!"

"And it's your kind that are forcing Otogi to fight! You made me chose a side! You made him choose a side!"

"Hond-"

"And you killed Malik!"

"Please, st-"

"And Rashid!"

"NO!"

"You assholes are killing everyone! EVERYONE!" I continued, slashing at my opponent again and again. I didn't notice that he wouldn't strike back or that his defense was so bad that almost all my attacks hit their marks. "And for that I'll never forgive any of you!"

"Stop! Please!"

"SHUT UP! Just… shut… up… and… DIE!" I screamed as I drove both of my daggers into his chest and quickly pulled them to the side, slicing open his torso. I watched as they cut through his skin and his blood quickly stained his cloak and shirt. I finally noticed that my opponent was bleeding heavily from the many other wounds I had inflicted all over his body.

He slumped forward without a word.

"Hey. You aren't dead, are you?" I asked, my voice mocking. "You can't be that weak."

He didn't respond, and I fought the frown that was forming on my face.

"Oi!" I muttered, nudging him with my foot, and I got a little cough in response. "Shit, man! I'm not done with you yet. Well, I think I at least deserve a look at your face."

I wiped my daggers on my pants and put them away. Bending down, I rolled the hunter onto his back and pulled back his hood.

My heart stopped.

"Hey… Honda," Otogi smiled up at me. His face was a mess; blood from a head wound and his mouth was running down his face and chin, mixing with his sweat. I sank to my knees and took his hand.

"Otogi?" I whispered, shock numbing my system.

"I… always knew… you were stronger," Otogi gritted out. "Don't worry; it doesn't hurt much anymore."

"You're going to be all right," I promised, as I tried to press his clothes against the bloody wounds. I watched as the blood quickly soaked through the material of his cloak and shirt, before staining my hands. "You're going to make it."

"I know," Otogi laughed, before stopping to cough, I closed my eyes and tried not to see the blood he spit out. "I'm just… tired."

"Then you should go to sleep," I smiled faintly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Standing up, I squeezed Otogi's hand one more time and smiled at him. He smiled back, before closing his eyes. I let go of his hand, and turned to face the battle.

"Be careful. I love you," I thought I heard Otogi say, but when I turned around, his body was already relaxed in sleep.

"Love you too," I whispered, before I ran back into the fray.

After the battle, I returned to look for Otogi, but I couldn't find him. I asked a few of the vampires that were still patching up the wounded, but no one had seen him. A few of the vampires had medical training… and they believed that he might have died and his body might have already been removed.

However, they were lying. They didn't know anything else, so I searched the city and surrounding areas for weeks; I sent out Internet searches and discreetly called his friends to check with them. No one had heard from him.

I continued my search for a year, but I soon began to realize that if I was constantly moving around and looking for Otogi and he was always moving around to look for me, we'd never meet. So I settled down in the US, away from the hunter community I grew up in and I'm waiting for him.

If you hear from Otogi, tell him to contact me. I miss him… a lot.

End Reply 


	12. 12 B 5

Chapter 12: Why I hate Ryou

Name: Bakura

Begin Entry 

For the record, I was tempted to stop here and not continue. Yet, again due to my lack of planned activities, I'm continuing. I do, however, retain the right to end this, ahem, transcript at anytime I deem fit. So put that in your pipe and smoke it! (Isn't that a great phrase? Ask your master what it means if you're not sure.)

Yami wanted me to come to the meeting. I suppose he trusted my opinion enough to want it, not to mention I'm pretty good at crowd control. Hey, if you kill them all, there's no crowd. No crowd equals no problem.

So I came… and was bored out of my mind. I wasn't terribly interested in the actual meeting, and I wouldn't have come if Yami hadn't asked, but I was there, and of course I brought Ryou so I could keep an eye on him and keep him… out of trouble.

As a side note, I _still_ blame Yami for what happened and I don't care if he's dead or not. Just because his sorry ass is negative six feet in location doesn't mean I forgive him. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have been there and, if I hadn't been there, nothing would have happened. As it was, I was just sitting in a corner, minding my own business, when… BAM! Karma bites me in the ass. I still have the bite mark too.

I bet you think I'm crazy; who knows, maybe I am.

But at any rate, I was there, keeping a watchful eye on Ryou and the crowd below. I was sitting alone on the balcony railing near the back of the large hall because Ryou had been talking with Jou's child, Mokuba, and a mutual friend, who was standing with the hunters.

(The hall we were in had three levels. There was the entrance level that was just a small area, which led to a flight of stairs. The next area, which was divided off from the first area by a glass railing, was the largest and it was where the other vampires had congregated for the meeting. I was sitting on the balcony that overlooked the second area and shaded that large chair Yami was sitting in.)

Finally Yami decided that enough people had come to start the meeting, but I wasn't really listening. I knew Yami didn't really care what any of the lesser vampires thought; he never did.

I let my eyes scan the crowd quickly and noted that Ryou, who had left his friends, had gone back to stand with Yami and his slave. I also noted that Mokuba had gotten pushed almost to the back of the crowd.

I sort of zoned out for a while but I turned my full attention to the meeting when Mai, Yami's child, ran in and crashed into Jou. The crowd could smell the silver coming out of Mai's back and the whispers of approaching hunters soon turned to panicked shouting. Yami tried to shout over the crowd's voice but Jou ignored him as he held Mai's dead body.

Ignoring their dead messenger, most of the crowd started to panic and a few pulled out weapons. Others ran to the nearby racks that held swords and other weapons. I pulled a dagger from my belt and moved into a crouch so I could run if I had to.

I heard more shouting and cries of panic followed by rapid gunfire and I knew that the hunters had found us. I quickly found Ryou, who had grabbed Yugi and was hiding behind the large chair Yami had been sitting in. Jumping off the balcony, I landed on Yami's chair as the hunters rushed up the stairs and the vampires began to fight back. I watched Yami grab a sword from a rack nearby and I called to him. Yami looked up and tossed me one. Nodding my thanks, I hopped off his chair and began to wade through the carnage in search of a good fight.

I heard Ryou call out my name and I turned to see a gun pointed at my forehead.

"Oh…" I whispered, as I ducked out of the way, just missing a silver bullet in the brain. I slashed at the hunter's ankles as I fell onto my hip. The hunter jumped out of the way and tried to re-aim, but Ryou grabbed his arm.

"Leave him alone!" Ryou cried, as he grabbed the hunter's wrist. "Stop!"

"Ryou!" I shouted, trying to warn him, but it was too late. I couldn't see anything from where I was lying, but I heard a gunshot and watched as Ryou's body jerked violently before falling backwards onto my chest. I looked at his body in shock and sat up, momentarily forgetting about the hunter. I touched Ryou's chest and my fingers found a small hole right by his heart. I brought my fingers to my lips and I knew instantly that Ryou was dead.

I don't remember much more for a while. I only remember seeing Ryou's face, his eyes wide with shock, lying on my chest. His head lolled to the side and I was looking right into his eyes. His large dead eyes. Empty brown eyes. Searching… Pleading… sad and lonely… beg…

……

I just remember his eyes… that's all.

I… Apparently, I went crazy and killed everyone who came within reach. Yami fought with me and together we finished off most of the battle.

I snapped out of it when the fighting around me ended. I just stopped in mid-swing, because there was no one there. I was still standing over Ryou's body, but I didn't look down at him. I looked over at Yami. He was holding Yugi close to him, but I diverted my eyes once I realized that Yami was changing Yugi.

With a sigh, I dropped my sword with a clatter and bent down to picked up Ryou, before walking towards the exit. I walked past the dead, the dying, the doctors and the mourners, but I didn't really see them.

I just left; walked out. And I didn't stop walking until I reached a medium-sized town roughly two days later.

I'd like to say that they simply did as I asked and cremated Ryou without a question, but that would be a lie. Apparently, they thought I had killed him. I had to kill some kid's fucking dog before they would believe that I meant business.

I was the only one who was present for Ryou's cremation and burial, except a priest and the two undertakers. I bought a spot in a wall for Ryou's ashes to be placed and every fifty years I'll have to send more money to renew it. Until I die again, that's it. But then again, I suppose I might be one of the last people who really cares.

As a side note: I've included the address and a map (with directions) to the burial area, in case you, or anyone you're in contact with, wish to visit Ryou. If you do visit, you should know that I didn't know Ryou's last name, so I gave him mine. Bakura Ryou; sounds nice, doesn't it?

You know, I didn't cry when Ryou died, and I didn't cry at all during the burial process. I never even cry on the occasion that I'm passing through the town and I go to visit Ryou. I never saw a point to it; crying, I mean. It won't bring him back. I realized that the last time I cried was nine hundred years ago. But tears don't bring anything back. Sucks, huh?

……

Upon reflection, I really fucking hate you, Kaiba. Yeah, I hope you're happy; I hope you're really happy. You sit there on that throne of yours, in that nice safe life you've built, and, for whatever reason, you decide to play God. Isn't it bad enough that everyone suffers once? No, you have to remind us of how life kicked us in the nuts.

You know that no one _really_ won that battle, right?

I didn't; Ryou sure as hell didn't.

The hunter's didn't and Yami didn't.

Marik and his boy toy didn't.

You want to know who did win? It wasn't who won the most; it was who lost the least. Well, good for fucking you, Kaiba; it looks like you won.

Now, just in case you think about e-mailing me back, you'd better read this bit. If I hear from you ever again, I'll kill you. And I'll kill your brother, too, just for kicks.

And don't even think about tracing this e-mail and sending someone after me, for whatever sick purpose you might dream up. I'm typing this from an Internet café and I'm leaving my current place of residence in less than an hour. Besides, I'd only kill anyone you sent after me if I saw him or her.

Well, that's about all for me. Send my regards to Jou; I owe that much to Marik.

Have a nice life, dick; it's more than the rest of us got.

End Reply 


	13. 13 S 5 B

AN: Okay, Yami is not dead! Yet. I hope this chapter clears that up. Last chapter, Yami was alive and Yugi was becoming a vampire. Just clearing that up. By the way, this is the last chapter, but I will be posting the alternative story line and the side chapter to chapter 6. You can stick around for that if you want.

Chapter 13: As Of Now B

Name: Kaiba Seto

Begin Entry 

I'm sorry about the delay, Mokuba. It's taken me a while to find everyone and put this together, you know how busy things always are at Kaiba Corp. Besides, Bakura took forever to track down. All the personal information I've included about the writers is accurate to the extent of my knowledge.

Other than that, I suppose there isn't much more to say.

True to his word, Bakura's e-mail was sent from an Internet café. He wasn't in the surrounding area when I looked for him, either. He hasn't contacted me since the previous e-mail, but I didn't really think he would. He isn't the type to take lightly, so his threat was probably more of a promise.

Honda has since sent me an e-mail, but it had no bearing on the battle you were interested in. Going a little off-topic, Honda is currently living in the United States because, after the battle, he was found guilty of murdering Otogi. I'm under the impression that Honda still believes that Otogi is alive. Perhaps he was mentally incapable of believing that he killed his lover. It's almost sad that such a methodical mind is wasted to that pathetic delusion. Of course, it's best for Honda to remain in the states. His self-imposed exile is actually keeping him alive. Really; seven million for Honda, dead or alive? It's lucky for him that I don't need money.

**__**

Jou's glaring at me for my black humor, so I'll move on.

As you know, Yugi was changed to a vampire after the battle. I was rather shocked to hear that Yami has since died. According to Yugi, it was roughly seven years ago. The poor bastard died in a freak accident, but that's all Yugi would say. Oddly enough, Bakura knew of Yami's death, so I'm forced to wonder exactly how 'freak' Yami's accident was.

I've decided that it's rather pathetic how out of the loop we all are. However, Yugi assures me that most vampires that participated in the battle have since become reclusive, like Jou, you and I have. I suppose that, with such a high mortality rate related to such a small event, isolation is normal.

In other news, a boy named Noa has taken over since Yami's death. Interestingly enough, he's a young vampire with immense powers. Yugi says he might even be a challenge for me. I doubt it.

Oh… before I forget, I do have the directions to Ryou's grave that Bakura included, but I decided to omit them from this transcript, because the extra files take up too much memory. If you'd like a copy or wish to visit your friend, tell me and we can discuss it in more detail.

But that'll have to wait until at least tomorrow. Jou and I are going out to dinner tonight. It's our anniversary, in case you forgot; I almost did. That means you're on your own for dinner tonight. Try not to burn our home to the ground. See you later.

-Seto

End Reply End Text 


	14. Alternate 08

AN: This is the alternate story line for chapter 8. The alternate story line is pretty much the chapter with a few changes. This one is almost the same. Chapter 11 has the most changes with a few for chapter 13. Just so you know.

Chapter 8: Closet Otogi A

Name: Honda Hiroto

Age: 70

Birth date: April 19, 1990

Current Residence: The United States of America (City withheld)

Origin: Tokyo, Japan

Living Family: Otogi Ryuji (Significant Other)

Parents: Dead (All I know of them is that they were hunters)

Hair: Brown (I now have a few gray hairs as well)

Eyes: Brown

Height: 180 cm (5 ft, 9 in.)

Weight: 65 Kg (143 lbs.)

Identifying Marks: Various scars; Tattoo of flames around upper arm

Begin Entry 

This is Honda Hiroto.

I apologize for replying to you e-mail in English, but my Japanese is a little rusty from fifty years of disuse. I hope you understand.

Anyway, it's nice to hear from you again, Kaiba. It's been a while since we saw each other last. I don't suppose you've aged a second since I last saw you; however, I have aged a good deal. Fifty years is an exhausting amount of time for us mortals. Yes, even us hunters. Contrary to popular belief, we age just as normal mortals do. Sucks, eh?

I'm afraid Otogi is unable to return your message. He is still… distressed over the whole ordeal. He's currently out at a meeting, so I've decided to use this time to reply to your e-mail without him around. His reaction wasn't too pretty and we had a bit of a fight. Let's just say I don't relish sleeping on the couch for another week; my back still hurts.

This might not be what you were looking for but, as one of my friends used to say, the only difference between WD-40 and grease is the box. Hmm, that sounds better in reference to our motorcycles, _but_ the principle is the same. Anyway, since I am not Otogi, I can't tell you anything about his experiences or opinions on any of the matters. I'm just me.

I'm sure there are plenty of places I can start this story from, but they're all pretty boring. Prior to where I will begin, Otogi and I were just running around fighting a shit load of red tape. So, I'm beginning with Malik's funeral.

Frankly, the whole situation was a load of bullshit and I still hate myself for it. I actually talked with Malik a couple hours before he was shot. That little punk was a little antsy about something, but he wouldn't tell me what. I'd noticed he'd been acting that way a lot for a couple of months.

Personally, I suspected drugs. Wouldn't you? He'd get jittery, disappear for a while and come back a few days later sedate as a tranquilizer. I'd talked to him about it a few times and even got Otogi's dad to order a blood test on Malik twice, but he always came up clean, so I let the issue drop. I figured if he was clean enough for a surprise drug test, he was clean enough to be healthy.

God, I'm such a screw up.

Anyway, that's why I wasn't too worried about Malik when he just said he was going away for a bit. I asked him if he needed some money, but he said he didn't, so I told him to have fun and went back to helping Otogi with his work.

We were trying to get another group together to search for Ryou and Yugi. We were really worried, especially since this had been the second attack on Ryou within two months. Otogi had been badgering his dad to get some sort of bargaining committee together to negotiate with the vampires for the pair's release.

In hindsight, yes, our work probably did a bit to raise anti-vampire sentiment. On the other hand, all of the other clan leaders were angry about the kidnapping and two or three of the clan leaders had been initiated that year and were eager to make a name for themselves. Not to mention, there's always a group of hunters who'll take any reason to kill a couple of vampires and they were taking all the hits they could. The mix was pretty ugly and no one needed Otogi and me stirring it up any. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, a little bit later one of the clan leaders sent around a group of minions asking after Malik. I told them I hadn't seen him all day, because everyone knows flunkies from a clan leader are bad news, and I'm no rat. The underlings weren't too happy, but they left without much of a fuss and Otogi and I went back to work.

We didn't really think anything of it, until the next day when a friend of Otogi's father came by and told us that Malik was dead.

We finally made it down to the morgue and Otogi went in to look. I tried, I really did, but I found that I couldn't force myself to look at Malik's face. I don't know how Otogi did it; I couldn't handle it. In my defense, I managed to step through the door before I turned around and left. So I sat out in the hall and tried not to listen to Isis's tears or Otogi's voice. I tried to blank out my mind but I couldn't.

I kept getting stuck on the fact that Malik was dead. I knew he was never going to come back, but I couldn't get my head around it. I just couldn't imagine it. Have you ever seen a child, maybe a toddler? Well, if you're ever doing something when they're around and you tell them not to do something, they get this look in their eyes. They'll look right at you, do exactly what you told them not to do, and run off, ever so pleased with themselves. Well, Malik always had that look in his eyes. They shone with that mischievous light and I simply couldn't think of those eyes staring straight ahead, dead to the world.

I knew that he was never going to come over to my place for dinner or talk with me about bikes again or help me fix my own sorry excuse for a bike. He was never going to complain about Isis and Rashid, or wonder if he would ever find anyone for him. He was never going to listen to Otogi and me complain about each other again and he was never going to annoy my neighbors by roaring down my street at three in the morning. Otogi, Ryou, Malik and I were never going to go on an all-night ride again. We were never going to meet up for bike races.

He was gone and the fact ripped at my chest. I just knew that looking at him would have hurt too much, you know? I couldn't bear to cement the fact into my heart and mind, even though the elusive fact was already taking root.

I guess I was blaming myself for what happened. There was a bit of 'well, if only I'd watched out for him more' and a bit of 'why wasn't I a better friend'. All those ideas and all that guilt was bouncing around my head and they were sort of pressing me into the floor, like someone had taped an anvil to my back.

That was all _before_ I read the report, _before _I found out he'd been shot by a silver bullet, _before_ I discovered that _our_ people had killed him. That was _before_ I found out the hunter's records had his cause of death as due to a vampire attack. What a load of… of fucking bullshit!

That's really all I could think about until the burial two days after Malik's death. There was a large crowd at the funeral. The group was mostly hunters, but there were a few Malik had known from school. Otogi and I came together but we stood in the back of the large gathering. We kept our heads bowed during the entire service and stayed out of the way, unwilling to attract any showy attention and sympathy. Isis and Rashid, Malik's sister and brother-in-law, did not attend to funeral at all. To be honest, I really respect them for that. I know Isis must have been dying to attend, as she and Malik were really close; however, the false sympathy and half-hearted regret would have killed her.

The entire thing was a circus for the hunters. It was disgusting.

But Otogi and I stayed until the rest of the crowd had cleared out, which was around three, since the service had started around one. We didn't really discuss anything but we didn't really need to. We just stood there and thought.

Ironically, I think Otogi broke the silence first. Of course, he didn't speak because the silence was oppressive; not at all. He spoke because there were some things that needed to be said and understood between us.

"I hate them."

"I know. I do too."

"They… they killed him and then they come to his funeral!"

"They've also lied about his death. They won't take the blame."

"I know. I heard my dad talking about the cover up. The four murderers are being sent out of the country in a few months. They'll be put on low-risk assignments for the rest of their days. Those assholes are just hiding their embarrassing little secret."

"Well, the vampires aren't too happy either, I'd imagine."

"No, they wouldn't be, would they. We were fools, weren't we?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Perhaps. On the other hand, it's hard to resist twenty years of ingrained beliefs."

"But… was Malik a spy?"

"Maybe. Could have been. But I don't care. That's no reason to execute him on the spot. No trial, no mercy. He was killed like a vampire."

We stood in silence before I walked over to Otogi and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Otogi?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't support our people. This is wrong."

"I know… but…"

"But?"

"My father. It's more than just right and wrong. I can't go against him, Honda."

"You scared?"

"Yes. You don't get it, Honda."

"Then explain it to me!" I demanded, turning him around so I could look him in the face, but he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"They own me, Honda. I… You… Our status is so different. It's true that you're strong, stronger than I am. But I'm an heir! One day I'm going to be the leader of my clan! That's a lot of power, and they don't dish that out lightly. They've got me trapped; I'm shackled to them."

"What have they got on you? Didn't brush your teeth before bed once when you were six?"

"Not blackmail; it's not them. I'm just… scared. I'm nothing without them. I'm not strong and powerful like you are. But the people are watching me. If I step out of line, the people will notice and some might follow me. I'm a danger and the clan leaders won't hesitate to crush me in an instant. I can't escape; even my dad's on their side."

"So you're just going to let this happen and… and go along with it?" I spat, pulling away sharply.

"Yes." I saw Otogi nod and I gaped at him stunned. I was saved from trying to formulate a response by Isis's arrival with Rashid. They came without a word and stood by Malik's grave, quietly paying their respects. Otogi and I didn't say a word, understanding their need for silence.

I, for one, could not believe what was happening. Otogi was usually so confident and assured. I'd seen him bluff his way out of fights. I'd seen him come out of the closet without breaking a sweat or worrying a moment. Hell, he never cared what people thought about him. That was one of the reasons I loved him so much. He was who he was and he never cared. But this. Going against the clans and siding with the vampires seemed to shake him beyond anything I had ever seen. I… didn't understand it.

Isis and Rashid stood in silence for a while before Isis turned to look over at Otogi and me.

"Thank you for coming," Isis nodded, her normally serious face pinched with stress. I looked closely at her eyes, but I couldn't see any emotion. She just looked… tired.

"We came because we were friends," Otogi replied.

"Were any others?" Rashid asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

"A few. Mostly normals," I replied.

"Understandable," Isis nodded again. "Otogi. Your father and the others are talking war. They are preparing as we speak."

"When will it be official?" Otogi asked nervously.

"I don't know; no one does. The leaders will wait until the vampires declare it, but they want to be ready."

"Is there another way?"

"No. There is too much outcry on both sides. The route of fate has been set."

"Hn," I grunted, letting her know what I thought of her fate.

"We're canceling the wedding," Rashid interjected, cutting off Isis's angry tirade before she could start. She always did take fate seriously.

"What? Why?" Otogi asked.

"We're going out tonight to have it done quietly. Isis feels that a war is an inappropriate time for a wedding."

"And I do not wish to wait," Isis muttered, her eyes meeting Rashid's.

"We'd better go then," Rashid sighed and Isis nodded. "Good night. Stay safe."

"Stay safe," Isis echoed and the pair left, without waiting for a response.

Otogi let out a small sigh and turned to leave. He paused when he reached my side and kissed my lips softly.

"See you at home."

"But… what about the war?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"The clans have me in a tight hold, Honda. I can't do what I want; not like you."

"What is that supposed to mean for me?"

"Look, I'm not going to hold it against you… if you leave the hunters."

"And if we face each other in battle? What'll we do then, eh?" I snapped angrily.

"I guess we'll find out then," Otogi shrugged, loosening my hand from his shoulder. He walked out of the cemetery and waved at me over his shoulder. I frowned and looked back at Malik's grave.

"Damn it, Malik, look what you've begun. You just had to do this. Don't you see what you've done? There's a rift. A fucking rift in our clans, and it's never going to heal; it's never going to mend. There's going to be a war, and I know I've got to pick a side. But it's a catch-22; either way I'm screwed," I whispered. "I just… I guess… I… goodbye, Malik."

I turned to go and slowly made my way towards the exit when a slight movement caught my attention. Just inside the cemetery limits, there was a man leaning his back against the fencing of the cemetery and he was looking over at Malik's grave as if examining it from a distance. I blinked quickly, not believing my eyes. It couldn't be Ryou! I took a few steps towards the man before realizing that it _wasn't_ Ryou.

However there was a good deal of similarity. The man and Ryou had the same color hair and eyes. They were even close to the same size in height--only an inch or so difference--but there his hair and eyes were more angular and sharp. His attitude and posture were more aggressive.

But this man must have known Malik, I thought, or at least known _of_ him. I made up my mind to talk with him and began to cross the cemetery grounds, but after a second the man looked over at me and cocked an eyebrow as if daring me to come closer. I hesitated for a second and before I knew it, the man was gone. He had disappeared before my eyes.


	15. Alternate 11

Chapter 11: A-Side of my Universe

Name: Honda Hiroto

Begin Entry 

Nothing of any importance happened until Isis and Rashid rounded up a group of dissenters like myself. Isis had made contact with the leader of the Vampires, a guy named Yami, and we were all supposed to meet. Apparently Isis wasn't one to just sit by and not take revenge when her brother was murdered. Well, I was game, so I came with them. I was worried when I didn't see Otogi with Isis, but I sort of knew he wouldn't be coming with us.

Anyway, the meeting wasn't much to speak of. Nothing terrible important happened until the battle began.

As for the battle? I hated it. It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever participated it. It wasn't that I'm averse to killing. Hell no. I killed my first vampire when I was thirteen or fourteen. I had been raised to take respect life, to term it loosely, but be willing to take it if I had to. And when someone's swinging a weapon at your head, you don't really have a great alternative if you want to see your next birthday.

What really hit me, deep in the stomach, was how easy it was. I'd never killed a person before, only vampires. But I could easily slice a fellow hunter's throat open with my sword. They were my kind, but I was killing them without a thought, and they would have killed me without a second glance. But there were other things that happened that I hated even more.

There was fighting all around me; vampires and hunters defending and attacking everywhere. I could feel the blood splash onto my clothes and I looked around at the carnage. There was a large staircase leading to the entrance the other hunters had come through. The fighting had begun in the entrance, but quickly it had spread to include the stairs and the upper level. I tried to decide who had the upper hand, but it was impossible to tell.

After a moment I found Isis battling a hunter near the ledge. She was pressed against the glass that divided the ledge from open air, and she was desperately trying to defend herself. Slashing across her attacker's eyes and stomach, Isis winced as the blood splashed over her face and shirt, but her opponent wasn't dead yet. Plunging her dagger into Isis's stomach, the hunter collapsed into a heap. I watched as Isis sank to her knees, pulling the dagger out of her stomach.

Leaping over a hunter's back, I ducked and spun as I tried to reach Isis and avoid getting hit with a weapon at the same time. It wasn't easy and I still got nicked with a sword, which cut my face so badly that it has since left a scar.

When I finally reached Isis, she had already died, but I didn't know it. Her eyes were wide open and their unfocused gaze was directed on the ground to her right, away from where I stood. I knelt next to her, putting away my weapons, and tried to find a pulse, but, of course, I didn't. Looking at her hand, I found a wedding band, and smiled. At least she had been happy… a little.

"Is she dead?" A voice asked and I looked up to see Otogi standing a few feet away. He was also wearing the traditional capes like the other hunters, but he had taken down his hood so I could see his face clearly. I saw that he was sweating heavily and his clothes were splashed with blood, and so was his face.

"She's dead." I agreed, replying cautiously.

"So is Rashid." Otogi shrugged, looking around idly at the battle that surrounded us. In a way it was very surreal. There I was, kneeling next to Isis's dead body, surrounded by death and blood, but I was talking casually to my boyfriend as if it were all normal and routine.

"He was wearing a wedding band, like Isis. He's not to far away… in case you want to see him," Otogi continued, motioning behind himself to indicate the direction in which Rashid lay.

"Thank you," I nodded, but made no move to get up. We looked at Isis's body again for a moment, before I reached across her face and pushed her eyes closed, so they wouldn't continue their unseeing gaze.

"You're bleeding," Otogi offered as I pulled away from Isis.

"You don't look much better," I snapped defensively. I saw a flash of movement out of the cornor of my eye, and turned to see a hunter running at me. Grabbing his arm, I threw him against the wall and used my sword to slit his throat. I turned back in time to see Otogi wipping his blade, while taking a step away from the dead vampire at his feet. I glared at him for a moment, before going on. "So? Aren't you supposed to attack me?"

"I was waiting for you," Otogi laughed shortly, smirking down at me.

I smiled back and stood up.

"Then it's decided. Turn around," I ordered, grabbing onto his upper arm.

"What are you going to do?" Otogi asked, a little wary as I pulled out my dagger from where I had put it earlier.

"Wait and see," I grinned as I suddenly grabbed Otogi's ponytail and yanked his head back. Slicing down with my dagger, I cut off the chunk of hair, before pushing Otogi's hips against the glass divider. "Just play dead."

Pulling out my gun, I fired two shots over his shoulder and gently pushed Otogi over into empty space.

Tipping over the rail, Otogi flipped over in the air and looked up at me as he plummeted towards the ground floor. I could see his hands flailing in the air as they searched for something to grab onto. Our eyes met and I could see the fear and betrayal that he felt. I felt tears prick at my eyelids and I bit my lip, drawing blood when my teeth ripped the inner tissue of my mouth, but I ignored the pain.

Wincing, I flinched and looked away when Otogi's right shoulder crashed into the ground below and his head smacked the floor soon afterwards. I watched him for a second after the impact, but he didn't move. I wasn't sure if he was doing as I had told him, for once in his life, or if I had really killed him, but either way his limp body ripped at my heart.

Turning away, I took a deep breath, and held Otogi's distinctive ponytail over my head.

"I've killed Otogi Ryuji!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, squeezing my eyes shut. "Otogi Ryuji is dead by my hand!"

There was as slight pause, as a few stopped to listen. And then there was a rush of panicked voices. I opened my eyes to watch most of the hunters beating a retreat. Even Otogi's father looked stricken when he saw that I had Otogi's ponytail. It seemed that my plan had worked. If you killed off an important leader, the rest would withdraw and think and regroup. It would buy us time, which we needed. And it was working.

But what did I hate most about the battle? I hated that my plan worked, that they all believed me. The hunters believed that I killed my own lover; even his father believed me. And that's what tore me to shreds.

End Reply 


	16. Alternate 13

Chapter 13: As Of Now A

Name: Kaiba Seto

Begin Entry 

I'm sorry about the delay, Mokuba. It's taken me a while to find everyone and put this together; you know how busy things always are at Kaiba Corp. Besides, Bakura took forever to track down. All the personal information I've included about the writers is accurate to the extent of my knowledge.

Other than that, I suppose there isn't much more to say.

True to his word, Bakura's e-mail was sent from an Internet café. He wasn't in the surrounding area when I looked for him, either. He hasn't contacted me since the previous e-mail, but I didn't really think he would. He isn't the type to take lightly, so his threat was probably more of a promise.

Honda has since sent me an e-mail, but it had no bearing on the battle you were interested in. Apparently, Otogi and Honda are living in America, because Honda was exiled from Japan for his involvement in the battle. Actually, Otogi and Honda took a group of supporters to America with them and that group has begun to grow into another sect of hunters. Jou say's that's _all_ what we vampires need. Biting sarcasm never suited him, I think.

As you know, Yugi was changed to a vampire after the battle. I was rather shocked to hear that Yami has since died. According to Yugi, it was roughly seven years ago. The poor bastard died in a freak accident, but that's all Yugi would say. Oddly enough, Bakura knew of Yami's death, so I'm forced to wonder exactly how 'freak' Yami's accident was.

I've decided that it's rather pathetic how out of the loop we all are. However, Yugi assures me that most vampires that participated in the battle have since become reclusive, like Jou, you and I have. I suppose that, with such a high mortality rate related to such a small event, isolation is normal.

In other news, a boy named Noa has taken over for Yami. Interestingly enough, he's a young vampire with immense powers. Yugi says he might even be a challenge for me. I doubt it.

Oh… before I forget, I do have the directions to Ryou's grave that Bakura included, but I decided to omit them from this transcript, because the extra files take up too much memory. If you'd like a copy or wish to visit your friend, tell me and we can discuss it in more detail.

But that'll have to wait until at least tomorrow. Jou and I are going out to dinner tonight. It's our anniversary, in case you forgot; I almost did. That means you're on your own for dinner tonight. Try not to burn our home to the ground. See you later.

-Seto

End Reply End Text 


	17. Side Chapter

AN: Came to me while listening to Dark Acts. I blame this piece entirely on that. Warning: Character death. Can be inserted right into Chapter 6 of 'Zeit von der Nacht'. This stands alone, but reading ZvdN helps a lot. 

Worries too Late

"Put down your guns! Put them down! He's not a danger to anyone!"

i love him.

"Fire at will!"

NO!

BOOM! NO! NO! Crack! Screeaaaam, splash, SCReeeeeeEEAAAAMMmmm.

OH GOD!

drip.

OH GOD! OHGODNOOHGODOHNO! GODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD!

Pain-inside. Blood. splatter. BoOOom! Crash! Rip! Tear! SCREEeeeEAaM!

GODGOD! don't look; don't look. sp-pit. GODGODGODGOD…

"NO! STOP!" Shuffle, Scraaaape.

KABOOM! wuuush.

KABOOM! KABOOM!

i don't want to die. don't wanna die. don'twannadie… donwannadie… donwanna

my God… please?

CHOKE!

SPAT!

pain. GASPgasp. taste. drip.

tipping.

drip.

wind's whisper.

drip.

confusion… so confused. confused why?

no words.

help? please? help… me?

can't talk.

…one of you, aren't i?

silence…

aren't i?

------

They say that right before you die your life flashes before your eyes.

That might be true, but I don't think it's exactly how you think it is. What they should mean is that a million ideas and thoughts flitter in and out of your mind, but it's mostly things you wish you had done.

You wish you'd seen your mother just once more before she had died, or you wish you had kissed your brother goodbye.

You wish you'd done your homework that one time in third grade and you wanted to tell that cute kid who sits in front of you how much you like his or her ass.

Or maybe you forgot to lock the back door and you're worried that someone might break in.

You worry about that friend you never made up with and that enemy you never kicked in the shins.

You wish you'd run a little faster during that one race, or you'd told your father what an asshole he was to you when you crashed the car into that one tree.

You wish you'd hugged your sister when she'd scrapped her knee on the sidewalk or you wish you'd given your stickers to the lonely outcast that sat next to you in school.

You worry about silly things that you'd almost forgotten about, and it's all in that single second before you die. It's amazing how fast the mind can function when it's under pressure. A split second is all you need to revisit all the "should have, could have, would have" moments of your life. Pathetic isn't it? It takes you ten minutes to remember that 'of' is spelled 'o-f' and not 'o-v'. But the last moment, the moment when it's too late…that is when your brain really kicks in and gets moving.

I probably should have been more focused and worrying about something that actually mattered. Something like Marik, or my sister, or Rashid.

------

falling.

help? you? dying? don't wanna die. help me?

ple-

------

__

Shoulda worried 'bout never telling Marik exactly how much I loved him.

__

Shoulda worried 'bout not kissing my sister goodbye.

__

Shoulda worried 'bout not kissing _Marik_ goodbye.

__

Shoulda worried 'bout all those times I had lied to everyone.

__

Shoulda worried 'bout telling Honda and Otogi how much their friendship meant.

… never telling Marik… I loved him.

…seeing Ryou again.

__

Shoulda worried… sister goodbye.

__

Shoulda… 'bout… Honda and Otogi…

__

Shoulda worried 'bout all… lied…

__

Shoulda worried 'bout not kissing Marik…

… worried 'bout… Ryou.

__

Shoulda worried 'bout… _Should_ worried 'bout… _Should _worried…

------

ase?

eyes rolling back…

blue skies?

------

I _should_ have… but I didn't worry.

I wondered if I could have an open casket.

I worried that my sister would wait to get married.

I worried that the bullets lodging themselves in my heart and chest had germs.

I worried about whether or not I was screaming.

I worried that I would cry.

I worried that _Marik_ would cry.

------

pain. fading pain. pain gone?

knees hit the cement. th…

------

I worried… that you would never understand.

…

Goodb-

------

ump. tip…tiptipti

click…… crack-sag.

drip…

drip……

dr…

ip……


End file.
